Beneath the Surface
by DaLizzie
Summary: *UPDATED* Yami is a reclusive marine biologist without much direction in life, but then the lab he works for makes a discovery that blurs the line between science and myth. Eventually, Yami will have to choose between science and his own morality.
1. Chapter 1

UPDATE 3/9/09: Well, I looked back at this story recently and somehow found the inspiration to keep going with it. There WILL be changes to some parts because eventually the entire plot is going to change, so it's going to be different for those of you that read it before.

A/N: Hey, look a new story! How about that? Maybe I'll finish this one in a timely manner! (unlike In Memories Forgotten).

This fic was inspired by Shonen Shoujo Kid's Science and Mythology, who I credit with the basic idea of this fic. Go read Shonen's fic now. Right now. Why are you still reading this? Go read it now!

*ahem* Anyways, I hope you enjoy my newest project

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 1

The grief was almost too much to bear. He was alone now, completely alone. He was the only one left of his family. What would he do now? The others in the city told him that he needed to move on, but how? How does a wound so deep ever heal?

Suddenly, he was pulled out of his thoughts. Something was wrong. Now aware of his surroundings, he saw that he was trapped. The strange net was all around him. He swam in all directions, but couldn't escape. There was no escape. Slowly, the entwined fibers tightened around him and began pulling him towards the surface. He struggled and flailed, but only became more entangled.

The net suddenly broke the surface, taking him with it. He gasped, suddenly unable to breathe. He was pulled up out of the water, the net cutting into his skin painfully. He was dumped onto a hard surface, and he looked up to see humans all around him. They were talking to each other in their strange, hard-sounding language. He struggled harder against the net, but he was so entangled now that he could barely move at all.

Then, the humans moved toward him. He flailed about in fear, but they grabbed the net and dragged him across the hard surface. He was beginning to feel faint from lack of oxygen, the world around him becoming dark and unclear. He vaguely felt himself being lifted up, and then he was shocked to feel water around him once again.

He discovered that he was in a small tank of water, just barely big enough for him to fit inside. A lid was fastened to the top, and although he tried to pound it open with his hands it would not budge. One of the humans grinned at him from outside the tank, and he looked back at him fearfully as the human spread a heavy cloth over the tank and everything turned to darkness.

* * *

Yami flipped through the TV channels without much interest, every so often munching on some chips from the half-empty bag next to him. He felt exhausted, but for some reason he couldn't sleep. That happened a lot. The rapid, disconnected images of the television managed to distract him from himself enough that it gave him the illusion of rest.

Yami had gotten used to functioning on little sleep at a young age. At the orphanage he grew up in, the busy highway right next to them was always noisy and there were always babies waking up in the middle of the night with too few caretakers to see to all of them. He had been glad to finally get out of there when he turned eighteen, but the habit of sleeping very little had stayed with him.

It took Yami several moments to realize that the phone was ringing. He looked at the clock; it was almost midnight. Why would anyone be calling him? Maybe Jounouchi (Yami's friend since high school) had locked his keys in his car again. Yami turned off the TV and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Yami, sorry to wake you…" It was Anzu.

"You didn't."

"Oh… well, anyways, you need to get to the lab right now. It's urgent."

"Why?"

"The most amazing discovery was just made," Anzu said, starting to sound excited. "You have to see it to believe it. Oh, Yami, it's just the most incredible thing I've ever seen!"

"Okay, I'll get down there as soon as I can."

Yami hung up the phone. What discovery could make Anzu that excited this late at night? Yami had known Anzu all through his college years, and she wasn't easily shaken up. Yami supposed that it had to be important if they were calling him in on his day off, especially at night. Yami shrugged on a jacket and dug his shoes out from underneath the sofa and drove down to the lab.

Once he got there, the main lobby was completely empty, but there were voices coming from the lab. Yami swiped his key card and walked in. The lights were still dim as though the lab was closed, but he could see a few figures standing next to the largest specimen tank in the lab.

"Yami! You've got to see this!" Yami saw Anzu coming towards him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him forward towards the tank.

"See what?" Yami asked. Anzu just pointed. Yami's eyes followed her finger and his mouth quite suddenly fell open.

Curled up in a corner of the tank was a creature that Yami had only ever heard of in myth and fairy tales. It had a long, scaly tail that shone blue and green and silver, and the fin at the end of it was transparent and wispy and tipped with gold. Then, at the waist the creature's skin turned to the color of human flesh. A human face looked out from under golden bangs for a moment, then hid itself once again behind folded human arms. It was a creature half-man and half-fish, a merman.

Yami was stunned. He couldn't even speak for several seconds. Eventually, he managed to turn to Anzu and ask, "How?"

"A fishing boat caught him in their net just off the coast. They kept him in a big fish tank until they got back to the harbor, and fortunately one of our people got to them before they could go to the reporters. Amazingly, the fishermen have kept quiet, so this won't be released to the press until Dr. Kaiba decides to."

Dr. Kaiba was the owner of the research facility, as well as several others in Japan and America. As Anzu said this, Yami worked his way around to another side of the tank so that he could see the merman more closely. He could see that there was a fin that trailed down the merman's spinal cord to his tailbone and that the merman's hands were slightly webbed. Upon closer inspection, Yami also noticed the gills on the merman's neck and the fact that his human-like torso was covered in a fine layer of translucent scales that were not visible from more than a few feet away.

Suddenly, the merman looked up at him, his eyes peeking out from between strands of gold and black hair streaked with red. It was only then that Yami noticed that the merman seemed similar to himself in some ways. His eyes, however, were a brilliant violet instead of deep red. The merman and Yami stared at each other for several moments, neither of them moving, and Yami was struck by the profound sadness in the merman's face. The value of the discovery melted away quite suddenly. Yami could see that the tank the merman was in was much too small for him, and he could see the bruises on the merman's arms from when he had been caught in the net.

The merman abruptly swam away to another corner of the tank. Yami watched, mesmerized with the beautifully fluid motion of the merman's body, then a hand touched his shoulder. It was Otogi, Yami's colleague and sometimes-friend.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

Yami looked back over to where the merman had curled up in the opposite corner of the tank. "Yes… quite amazing."

"It's pretty shy, though. We haven't been able to get very close to it without it swimming away from us."

Yami frowned. It somehow sounded wrong to call the merman "it".

"But, we received a message that Kaiba is going to send in some new technology for us to use. They're like the robots that are used to excavate underwater, except we'll use them to immobilize specimens for study."

Immobilize? Surely the merman would struggle and end up hurting himself if they did that. Yami shook his head, trying to get rid of these thoughts that he was having. He shouldn't be worrying about such things; the merman was just a specimen that they were going to study. And, they weren't even sure that the merman was an intelligent life form. Just because it looked like a human didn't mean it thought like a human.

But, a glance at the merman told Yami that this last excuse was a lie. He could see deep, powerful emotion in the merman's eyes, and it was impossible for him to think that the merman was just a mindless animal.

Yami's gaze slid over to where another of the scientists, Bakura Ryou, was standing away from the crowd in a corner of the room. He, too, was watching the merman closely. Yami's eyes narrowed. He hadn't trusted Bakura from the moment they had met, and the uneasy feeling he always got when something bad was about to happen (Jounouchi called it his "sixth sense") rose up inside him.

"Yami, you look tired," Anzu said, interrupting Yami's thoughts. "Maybe you should go back home and get some sleep. I'm sorry that I woke you up for this, it was just so exciting!"

"It's all right. I'll have all day tomorrow to sleep. Thanks for letting me know about it."

"Of course. And not a word to anyone, right?" Yami nodded and headed for the exit. As he left, he took one more look at Bakura, who was still staring intently at the merman. That uneasy feeling grew stronger, but Yami shook it off. He needed to focus on staying awake enough to drive home.

A/N: Okay, so not much actually happened, but I needed to set everything up. Oh, and just in case anyone is confused, Anzu=Tea and Otogi=Duke. I kind of transposed Bakura's name because I wanted to make sure everyone realizes that I'm talking about Yami Bakura, but I can't call him that because there's already a Yami. Clear as mud? I shouldn't have to tell you who the merman is. ^_^ Review, please!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey, look, another chapter! I know that I said I would focus on In Memories Forgotten until I finished it, but I still felt like working on this some. I'll just go back and forth between the two, I guess. Enjoy the chapter!

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 2

Yami swiped his key card and traipsed into the lab. He still hadn't slept much and was hoping that being highly caffeinated would make up for it. He glanced around the lab to see that Anzu and Otogi were already present.

"Good morning, Yami!" Anzu said cheerfully. Otogi just waved at him absently without looking up from the book he was studying.

"G'morning," Yami murmured. His eyes wandered over to the tank where the merman was still curled up in a corner. "How's he doing?"

"Well," Anzu said, "we've been trying to figure out what kind of food it eats, but so far it hasn't even touched anything that we've given to it. We've tried every kind of oceanic vegetation that's native to the area and several different types of fish, but it still hasn't eaten anything."

Yami glanced at the tank again. The merman hadn't eaten for a couple days already; either his metabolism was a lot different from that of humans or he was simply refusing to eat. Yami shrugged it off; it wasn't unusual for captured animals to lose their appetites.

Dumping his bag on his desk, Yami threw on a lab coat and took another swig of his coffee. Then, something caught his eye.

"What are these?" Yami asked, looking closely at the strings of shells and coral being kept in the preservation tank.

"The merman was wearing those when it was found," Otogi said. "Kaiba sent a notice that we're to keep them in the best condition that we can."

Yami stared intently at the jewelry through the water. There were three bracelets made out of colorful bits of coral and two other bracelets made out of pearls and seashells. There was a much longer string of lavender coral and pearls, as well, but what intrigued Yami the most was the necklace. It was made of blue and green coral and had a stone pendant carved into the shape of a triangle. In the center of the triangle was an eye. Yami wondered what it could possibly symbolize.

"Have you seen Bakura today, Yami?" Anzu asked from where she was sitting at one of the computers.

"No. Why?"

"Well, he's usually here before any of us, but we haven't seen him at all today. And he seemed so interested in the merman last night that I thought he would want to get started on this project right away."

"Maybe he's ill or something," Yami said absently. He wasn't particularly fond of Bakura, so it didn't trouble him much that he was missing.

"Aha!" Anzu said suddenly. "Here's a message from Dr. Kaiba. He says that the new equipment ought to be here by tomorrow morning."

"That's good," Otogi said, still engrossed in his book. "We won't be able to do any real in-depth study until it gets here."

"What kind of equipment?" Yami asked curiously, and Anzu motioned for him to come over to her. On the screen Yami could see a picture of a device in a semi-circle shape.

"We'll be able to put this over the merman's gills so that it can survive out of water for closer examination. The other equipment that we'll be getting is a sort of robotic arm, as cheesy as it sounds, but with it we'll be able to immobilize the merman inside the tank."

Yami nodded, then glanced over at the merman again. He was still curled into a fetal position, his face hidden. Yami stepped closer to the tank. The profound sadness that he had felt the first night that he had seen the merman returned, and the merman slowly raised his head to look at Yami. It struck Yami that the merman seemed even paler than he had been when he had first seen him. Anzu and Otogi didn't seem to notice as the merman, staring up at Yami, put out his hand and pressed it to the glass barrier between them. Yami stared dumbly for a moment, then it crossed his mind that the merman might be trying to communicate with him. However, Yami only stood there, and with a sad look the merman let his hand fall and he drifted over to another corner of the tank.

A voice from behind him startled Yami out of his momentary daze.

"If you're just going to stand there, write down some observations while you're at it," Otogi said, handing Yami a notebook and pencil. "It's about all that we can do right now, anyways."

Yami glanced over at the merman once more, then pulled up a chair and sat down near the tank. He sketched out the merman in his fetal position in the corner and started making notes about the fin along his spine, the transparent scales on his torso and the webbing between his fingers. He also noted for the first time that the merman actually had ears, which was highly uncommon for any kind of sea creature, but they were odd in that they were smaller, closer to his head and slightly pointed. Yami then began sketching the merman in motion, remembering the beautifully fluid way that the merman had moved through the water.

He jumped slightly as he realized that Otogi was looking over his shoulder.

"Would you quit that?" Yami said irritably.

"Now, that's what I want to get," Otogi said, ignoring Yami's remark and jabbing a finger at his most recent sketch. Yami then noticed that Otogi was holding a camera.

"I want to get some pictures of it while it's swimming but we can hardly get it to move at all. It doesn't seem to respond to anything."

Otogi pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Maybe if I found a way to startle or scare it…" he murmured. Otogi turned around in place several times, then spotted a metal tray sitting innocently on a table. He grinned, then went to pick it up.

"What are you going to do?" Yami asked.

Ignoring him once again, Otogi plopped the camera into Yami's lap.

"Just point it at the merman and hit the button if it moves," he said. Then, without any real warning, Otogi slammed the metal tray against the side of the tank (which was thankfully quite indestructible), and a momentous crash reverberated through the lab.

Anzu jumped up out of her seat at the computer to stare at Otogi and Yami just barely remembered to put his finger down on the button. He heard several consecutive clicks as the camera took picture after picture, and he watched as the merman, startled by the sudden noise, shot away from the tank's corner and up to the very top. Yami stared in sheer awe of how quickly the merman could move through the water when another crash made him jump.

"You better be taking those damn pictures, Mutou," Otogi said. Yami grumbled, but the camera clicked once again as the merman retreated to another corner of the tank, trying to escape the frightening noise. But, Otogi only followed him and slammed the tray into the tank's side yet again. The merman swam away from the side of the tank and curled up in the middle, his hands pressed over his ears. Yami had stopped taking pictures; the merman seemed terrified and, though it might have been his imagination, Yami thought that the merman was paler than before. He even seemed to be shaking, though it was hard to discern through the water.

Yami jumped again as Otogi slammed the metal tray against the tank surface, but this time the merman refused to move. Otogi tried again; the merman flinched slightly, but remained where he was. He seemed to have figured out that, if he just stayed still, Otogi would give up and leave him alone.

"Maybe you should leave him alone, Otogi. Scaring him isn't going to help him much, anyways," Yami said. He glanced at the merman, who seemed so helpless and pitiful, and was suddenly very sorry that he hadn't stopped Otogi earlier. He was jarred from his thoughts as Otogi let out a yelp of pain.

"What did you do that for?" Otogi whined, rubbing the back of his head tenderly. Anzu had apparently taken the liberty of smacking him with her notebook.

"You need to warn me before you do something like that!" Anzu said in exasperation. "I thought the ceiling was coming down on top of us! And besides, I know you don't take much stock in regulations, but if you keep doing that we'll have another activist fiasco on our hands. Remember that incident last year with the octopus and the peanut butter?"

Otogi grumbled, then grabbed the camera out of Yami's hands. "You got the pictures, right?" Without really waiting for an answer, he plugged the digital device into one of the computers.

Yami wasn't interested in how the pictures had come out. He was more worried about the merman's health. If he kept being put through this kind of stress, and continued to refuse food, he wouldn't survive for very long. In effect, by keeping him here, they were killing him, weren't they? No, they were merely keeping him in an artificial environment for study. But that's just semantics, isn't it?

We are killing him, Yami thought to himself.

The sadness returned tenfold; they were killing this beautiful creature, and for what? For science? Science had never meant that much to Yami. He took on this career because it was what he had managed to get a scholarship for, not because it was what he really wanted. He didn't know what he wanted, exactly, but… he knew that he didn't want to be responsible for anyone's death.

It took Yami a few moments to realize that the merman was looking at him again. Anzu and Otogi, engrossed in the pictures, did not notice the merman glide over to where Yami stood at the front of the tank. The merman put his hand to the glass again, staring at Yami with those soulful violet eyes.

He knows, Yami suddenly thought. He knows that I see him suffering. He knows that I'm the only one that notices his pain.

He's asking me for help.

Suddenly, the merman retreated back to a corner of the tank.

"I told you, if you're just going to stare at him, at least take some notes!" Otogi slapped a notebook against Yami's chest and walked back to his computer. Yami wondered briefly if he should tell Otogi and Anzu what the merman had done, but decided against it. He'd sleep on it and see if anything looked any clearer in the morning. Yami sat down in the chair again and sketched the merman looking out at him with his hand against the glass.

A/N: Yes, Otogi is being a jerk. And Anzu is generally clueless. Their intelligence fell through a plot hole. Actually, writing this makes me realize that I completely left out Hiroto/Tristan. Eh, I might stick him in somewhere. But anyways! Will Yami protest the bad treatment of the merman or will he stay silent? Will he finally figure out a way to communicate with the merman, and can he do it before something awful happens? And how the heck should I know? Review, please!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Ah, back to this story now. I'm amazed that I still have the time, energy and inspiration to work on this stuff despite the fact that classes have started up. Hopefully it won't ever get so bad that I have to abandon this for a long time like I have before. Anyways, here's some more torturing of our favorite little hikari/merman/cute anime boy. Otherwise known as Yugi. And then there's Yami, of course. He gets tortured some, too. All-righty, then!

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 3

He did not understand. He did not understand why they kept him in this tiny prison or why they tried to frighten him with loud noises. He was frightened; frightened and alone and with no hope of escape.

They did not seem like bad people. He had seen their eyes; there was no evil in them. They were not bad, and yet they were not kind. If they were kind they would let him go. But they would not, and he could not trust them.

Except, maybe, for him. He had the clearest eyes of all. Like the others he was not bad, but he was also kind. He had not tried to hurt him or scare him. In fact, he thought, the one with the red eyes was the only one that knew that he was scared. He saw more than the others did. Maybe he could be trusted.

The lights are coming on. The door is opening. Here they come again…

* * *

Yami traipsed into the lab and was met with the rather unwelcome sight of Bakura Ryou.

"Bakura," he said expressionlessly.

"Mutou," Bakura said with an equally flat tone.

Thankfully, though, Anzu was also there, which helped to stem the tension between the two men, who obviously didn't like each other.

"Good morning, Yami!" she chirped. Yami murmured an unintelligible reply.

"Good news!" she went on, oblivious to his lack of enthusiasm. "The new equipment arrived this morning. Bakura's been busy installing it."

"Has he, now?"

"Yes, and it'll take a little more time. But, in the meantime, I wanted to try a little experiment of my own."

"What experiment is that?"

Yami looked up as Otogi sauntered in.

"Good morning!" Anzu said cheerily. "Well, this morning I saw the merman's lips moving, so I thought that maybe he's making sounds that are at a frequency we can't hear. We have a water-proof microphone, so all we need to do is adjust the frequency that it picks up."

Yami looked up to see that the microphone had already been lowered a little ways into the tank. And, now that his eyes were drawn to the tank, he saw the merman sitting in his usual fetal position in a corner. He stepped closer to see that the merman's lips actually were moving very slightly. He wondered what he was saying…

"Okay, I think we're hooked up," Anzu said as she finished fiddling with the speaker. "And here we go!" And, as she switched it on, Yami almost stopped breathing for fear that he might miss some of what he was hearing.

The sound was a soft undulation of repeating syllables, haunting, musical and unbearably sad. Yami stared at the merman in awe, wondering what the sound was. Was it really a song or was he simply talking to himself? The sound continued to permeate the lab until it suddenly stopped. Yami saw Yugi lift his head a bit to see the others staring at him, then he looked away and curled up tighter.

"Well, I guess that's all we're going to get," Anzu said as she took a tape out of the recorder and labeled it. As she said this, Bakura emerged from the examination room.

"It's ready," he said curtly.

"Wonderful." Yami jumped slightly as he realized that Otogi was next to him. He hoped that the other scientist would stop sneaking up on him like that before he collapsed from a heart attack.

"What now?" Otogi asked.

"We release a sedative into the tank and wait until he goes unconscious," Anzu said. "Then we manually remove him from the tank and take him to the exam room."

"Manually?" Otogi said with a quirked eyebrow.

"If you want the robotic upgrades put in you can do it yourself," Bakura said irritably. "I sure haven't had time to get them in."

Otogi bristled. "And what makes you think that you've got the right to…"

"Now, children," Anzu said with a sigh as her fingers brushed over a few keys at her computer. "Wait until after the examination's over, then you can take this outside."

Bakura just glared then stalked off into the exam room. Otogi stuck his tongue out at the scientist's retreating back. "Fine. Don't stay and help," he muttered indignantly.

Yami, meanwhile, was watching the tank. The merman seemed to notice that there was a change in the content of the water but he couldn't figure out what it was. He looked over at Yami, panic flashing across his features. His eyelids became heavy and he put out a hand to the glass, but didn't reach it before he fell unconscious. Just a moment later he was floating limply in the tank.

"Well," Otogi said, clapping his hands together just a bit too cheerfully. "Let's get to it!"

There was a tightly-sealed door on one side of the tank through which they were going to retrieve the merman. The water level of the tank was lowered to just a few feet, the merman left floating on the bottom. Yami pulled on a pair of boots and waded into the tank, the strange semi-circular device in his hand. He bent down and gently raised the merman up out of the water. For a moment he was stunned at how light the merman was, then quickly blamed it on the fact that the merman was still partially supported by the water. He attached the device and it gave a little beep to let him know that it was activated. The merman could survive out of water for about ten minutes, then the device would have to be hooked up to an external machine that would be able to continue the flow of oxygen to his gills.

Otogi waded in after Yami to help him haul the merman out of the tank. Yami slid his hands under the merman's arms and Otogi put his arms under the tail. They lifted together, and Yami was once again shocked. It hadn't been his imagination; the merman wasn't at all heavy. How long had it been since he had eaten?

It didn't take them much effort to get the merman onto the table. They followed Anzu into the exam room where Bakura had the external machine set up next to the exam table. Yami noted the many restraints on the table; the merman was going to be sedated, so why did they need all the restraints?

"Okay," Anzu said. "Let's get him onto the exam table." The others quickly came to help her. "One, two…"

However, Anzu never reached three. It seemed that the sedative hadn't been strong enough. Just as they lifted him onto the exam table the merman's eyes fluttered open and, suddenly realizing that he wasn't in the tank anymore, he panicked. Bakura and Anzu grabbed at his arms and managed to secure the restraints around them, but his tail was still thrashing about wildly. Otogi made an attempt to grab hold of it but instead had the wind knocked out of him as he was thrown across the room.

Yami managed to grab the merman's fins, forcing his tail down long enough for Anzu to secure the restraints. The merman still struggled but the restraints were strong enough and tight enough that he could hardly move.

Anzu wiped her forehead, panting. "It's a lot stronger than I thought it would be," she said. "For such a little creature it sure packs a wallop."

Otogi was picking himself up off the floor amongst a pile of cotton swabs and spare lab coats, muttering unintelligible obscenities.

"Let's begin, then," Anzu said, sounding quite cheerful considering what had just happened. Yami frowned; the sedative had only worked for maybe a minute or two, and they hadn't put a small amount into the tank. It would be dangerous to give the merman anymore than the prescribed dosage, so they would have to conduct their examination with him awake.

Yami felt a nudge on his arm. "Get a blood sample for me, will you?" Otogi said, handing a syringe to Yami as he went to take a small sample of the merman's scales. Yami positioned himself next to the merman, swabbed a small portion of his immobile arm with alcohol, and then made the mistake of looking into the merman's face.

It was a portrait of absolute terror. The merman's violet eyes were darting about from one scientist to the other and he was trying to wriggle out of his restraints but to no avail. His eyes suddenly locked on Yami and he noticed the syringe in Yami's hand. His struggling only increased and he opened his mouth as though to cry out. Yami felt the unbearable sadness return yet again; surely the merman had no idea where he was and was very confused as to how he could be out of water and still be alive. And, he seemed absolutely petrified of needles.

Trying to make his blood sample as quick and painless as possible, Yami waited until the merman's head turned to look another way momentarily and then quickly slid the needle under one of the transparent scales and into the skin, drawing the needed blood and withdrawing. The merman, feeling the small prick, looked over at Yami and frowned to see the syringe already filled with blood. He looked down at his arm, then back at Yami. Yami sighed in relief; at least the merman hadn't had to watch the needle go in, or he would've been in an even worse state of mind.

Yami looked about at the other scientists. Otogi was examining the scale sample he had taken, Anzu was taking measurements of the fin and Bakura was inspecting the pattern of scales on the merman's tail.

They were all treating it with the typical scientific detachment, which Yami had always been taught was the best way to approach all experimental subjects. There was to be no emotional investment in the subjects or else the research results could become skewed.

But, Yami wasn't interested in research results. He was concerned about the fact that they wouldn't have any results at all if the merman continued to refuse food and be put under this kind of stress.

But, what could he do? This was a private research facility (thus the sizeable paycheck) and what the owner says, goes.

The testing went on for several hours, as long as the gill device would allow. As the test continued the merman's struggling gradually lessened as he exhausted himself. In the last half hour of testing the merman simply lay there in submission and stared off into space. A few moments later, Yami noticed that the merman's lips were moving. He couldn't hear anything and the movement was barely discernable, but the merman seemed to be saying something. Yami said nothing to the others, just as he had said nothing about the merman's attempts to communicate with him the day before.

Finally, the testing ended. Otogi punched the air with his fist, declaring that he was definitely ready for a night out. Bakura disconnected the machine as Anzu injected another sedative.

A few moments later the merman's eyelids were drooping. But, just before he went unconscious, the merman looked up at Yami who was standing next to him. He whispered something, something that Yami couldn't discern, but Yami still knew that the merman had been saying it to him. The merman's eyes fell closed and the others began removing the restraints.

Yami watched the merman's pale, gaunt face. The merman needed help and he was trying to ask for it. Yami knew that he was the only one that noticed the merman's pain; the others either didn't see it or chose to ignore it. Yami decided then that it was time for him to do something. He needed to find a way to tell the merman that he understood, that he wanted to answer his call for help.

"Yami? Did you want to go out with us tonight?"

"No… I think I'm going to stay late and get some work done."

A/N: Hey, something might actually happen in the next chapter! Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Wow, I'm really cranking it out here. I can't believe I'm still working on this despite the massive amounts of READING I have to do for classes. But, it makes my readers happy. I hope. So, somebody commented that Seto is the antagonist for this piece. Hmm… it is possible. Then again, Anzu could secretly be an escapee from a mental institution and is secretly plotting a dastardly plot! You never know with me. Or with Anzu. Expect the unexpected.

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 4

"What a day, huh?" Otogi said as he scrubbed his hands in the sink. "If we could increase the sedative dosage I sure would. I might actually be able to stay on my feet. Say, you want to check out that new dance place I was telling you about?"

Anzu smiled and nodded as she let her hair down.

"How about you, Yami?" Otogi asked as he dried his hands.

"No, he's not going," Anzu answered for him. "He already said that he had work to do."

Otogi rolled his eyes. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well, maybe some other time, then," he said with a grin, and left the lab. Bakura had left for the data storage room quite a while ago, so only Yami and Anzu were left in the lab. The merman was curled up in the tank as he always was, the sedative having worn off a while ago.

"Hey, Yami, are you getting enough sleep?" Anzu asked. Yami looked up.

"Yes," he lied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you seemed rather… unfocused today. Is there something on your mind?"

Yami was silent for a moment. There was something on his mind, of course, but he didn't know if it would be good to tell Anzu. He was the only one that had noticed all of the merman's pleas for help, after all...

"Well…" he said hesitantly.

"I knew it! There is something wrong," Anzu said, immediately coming over to sit next to Yami. Yami nearly grimaced; Anzu was a good friend, but sometimes she tried a little too hard.

"What's going on, Yami? You can tell me," Anzu said in her most reassuring manner. Yami sighed.

"Well… I've been noticing a few things about the merman…"

"So we've clarified that you aren't blind. That's a big help," Otogi said as he re-entered to grab his forgotten jacket, but Anzu shushed him.

"Go on, Yami," she said intently.

"He seems unhealthily thin and pale. I think the stress of being kept here and having all these tests done is taking a heavy toll on him. It might even be the reason why he's refusing to eat."

"And what do you propose that we do about it?" Otogi asked, seeming to have thought the conversation worthy of his interest.

"Reduce the testing," Yami said immediately.

"But… Yami, we do have a schedule that we're supposed to be following…" Anzu said.

"We can still get all the tests done," Yami said. "We just need to do each one farther apart so that he has time to recover. It will just take a little more time."

Anzu looked at Yami for a long time, then nodded. "Okay," she said. "It won't really do us any good if the subject is too unhealthy to test, now, will it?"

Yami sighed in relief and nodded. Otogi glanced at Yami rather suspiciously but didn't say anything.

"Well, I'm going to go over to the exam lab to get some stuff done," Yami said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

* * *

Yami peeked into the lab cautiously, wanting to make sure that no one else was around. If anyone found him doing anything with the merman that wasn't in the test schedule, he could be in big trouble. He could see the merman half-asleep in the tank. Yami looked around once more, then went into the lab and carefully locked the door behind him.

After some deliberation, Yami had decided that the best way to try to communicate with the merman would be to teach him sign language. Yami had, in fact, known sign language for years. The child that shared his bunk in the orphanage had been deaf and had taught sign language to Yami so that communication between them would be easier. Yami figured that this was the best way to talk to the merman because the merman spoke at a frequency that Yami couldn't hear and Yami's own speech would sound muffled through the water anyways.

The merman woke up fully as he saw Yami walk over to him. He eyed the human warily for a few moments, then shrunk back to the other side of the tank as Yami came closer. Yami simply sat down next to the tank and slowly, so as not to startle him, motioned for the merman to come towards him. The merman only stared back at him, his arms wrapped around himself protectively. Yami decided that it would be counter-productive to go after the merman; he needed to wait for the merman to come to him.

And sure enough, after a little coaxing the merman became curious. He uncurled from his fetal position and cautiously swam over to Yami. Yami smiled at him, trying to make the merman a little more relaxed. He was pleasantly surprised when the merman smiled back nervously; Yami had noted that the merman didn't seem as afraid of him as he was of the other scientists.

Yami began by pointing to himself and then slowly signed the letters of his own name. The merman only stared at him blankly. Yami did it several more times, then gestured at the merman for him to try. With a little practice, the merman could repeat the symbols pretty well, but Yami didn't think that he understood what the symbols meant. Yami exaggeratedly pointed to himself again, and signed out his name. The merman frowned, and Yami repeated the action. The merman signed out the letters again a few times, then it seemed to dawn on him what Yami was trying to do. He pointed at Yami, and then signed the letters again. Yami nodded and smiled, and the merman smiled genuinely back. He signed Yami's name again.

Yami bit his lip, wondering what to do next. He hadn't really planned any farther than that. He went over to the sink and ran some water into his cupped hand as the merman watched. Yami then pointed to the water in his hand, and signed "water". The merman repeated the symbol, now understanding what Yami was trying to teach him. He moved his hand through the water around him and made the sign again. Yami nodded. The merman was a fast learner.

Yami proceeded to teach the merman various other nouns, such as parts of the body and objects lying about the lab. The merman was quite adept at memorizing the symbols and, when quizzed, could easily repeat them correctly. Problems arose, however, as Yami quickly ran out of materials to work with. Most of the objects in the lab were things that the merman had never seen before, and therefore it would be of little use to the merman to tell him the name of something when he didn't even know what it was.

Then, getting another idea, Yami dug around until he found his notebook. He quickly sketched out a landscape that showed land, with a person standing on it, and the sea with a merman swimming about under the water. He also drew fish, a dolphin and a few other sea creatures that he figured the merman would have seen before.

Yami showed the merman the picture, and the merman seemed to recognize what it was. Yami pointed to the land portion, signing the word for land. The merman repeated it obediently. Yami pointed to the person and signed the word "human", then to the sea. He went on to point to each of the sea creatures, signing their respective names. The last one he came to was the word for merpeople.

As the merman signed the word for his own kind his eyes grew sad. He reached out to touch the glass where the drawing of the merman was just beyond. Yami felt a pang of pity for the merman; surely he missed his home.

Wanting to cheer the merman up, Yami put his hand against the glass where the merman's hand was placed. The sea creature looked up and, seeing their almost-connected hands, smiled. Yami grinned in return, noting to himself that the merman had a very beautiful smile. The happy expression suited him so very well.

The smile, however, faded as the merman frowned. His features contorted in pain and, curling up into a ball, he sank down against the side of the tank. Concerned, Yami knelt down next to the tank, wishing that he could ask the merman what was wrong. The merman curled up tighter, apparently fighting pain. Eventually he relaxed, his form resting limply against the glass. Slowly he raised his head and Yami was appalled at how pale and gaunt his face was. Seeming to see the concern in Yami's eyes, the merman attempted a smile. Yami was not reassured; something was wrong and he wanted to know what. Eventually, the merman looked down at himself and put a webbed hand over his stomach, then looked back up at Yami.

Yami nearly smacked himself for not realizing it earlier. The merman hadn't eaten in days; he had to be starving and the hunger pains must be nearly crippling. Pushing himself to his feet, Yami proceeded to ransack the lab in search of the food that Anzu had supposedly acquired but that the merman had previously refused to eat. Finally Yami remembered that Anzu had been cultivating various sea plants in a tank that was, of course, hidden behind some of Otogi's unorganized files.

After harvesting a generous portion, Yami gestured to the merman to swim to the top of the tank. Yami climbed the not-completely-stable metal stairs to the platform next to the water's surface. The merman looked up at him from between the metal bars of the lid.

Yami lowered some of the wet, leafy vegetation into the tank. The merman immediately grabbed hold of it and ate ravenously. As the sea creature ate Yami went back down the stairs and searched about for anything else that the merman could eat. Surely merpeople ate fish, as well, but were there any in the lab that wouldn't be missed?

It was then that Yami stumbled over yet more of Otogi's possessions, only to find his forgotten lunch. Picking up the scent of fish, Yami investigated the lunch box to find a fresh box of sushi. Sushi is fish, right? While silently thanking Otogi for being so forgetful, Yami climbed back up the stairs. The merman had finished eating what Yami had previously brought him and had been watching Yami as he searched about the lab. When he saw the sushi, however, he looked dubious. It certainly didn't look like fish.

Yami ate one himself to demonstrate that the sushi wasn't dangerous, then offered one to the merman. Still hungry, the merman reluctantly tried one. His eyes lit up as he recognized the taste of fish and soon the box was empty. Yami knelt down on the metal platform as he watched the merman eat, wondering to himself just how many laboratory regulations he was breaking by feeding their subject sushi. If anyone found out he would surely get fired, if not prosecuted.

But, the contented smile on the merman's face as he finished the sushi banished all worry from Yami's mind. All that mattered was that he had been able to help the merman and had made a connection with him. The connection wasn't much now, but if he could keep teaching the merman sign language then they would be able to communicate.

The merman smiled up at him through the water and Yami smiled back. Yes, it was definitely worth the risk. Glancing at the clock, Yami saw that it was almost past midnight. With this knowledge gained Yami suddenly felt very tired. The feeling seemed contagious as the merman's eyelids began to droop.

Yami climbed back down the stairs and the merman let himself sink back down into the tank. Giving the merman one last smile, Yami signed "Good night" to him. The merman seemed unsure of the meaning, but signed it back anyways. As Yami left the lab, he saw the merman curl up on the floor of the tank, smiling slightly to himself.

A/N: Yum sushi. Yes, something is actually happening! And hey, I might even give the merman a name next time. That way I can stop trying to figure out things to call him besides "merman". Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yes! New chapter! Despite feeling dreadfully overwhelmed with my classes, I have come through yet again! Please enjoy.

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 5

"Hello?"

"Hi, Jou, it's Anzu."

"Oh, hey, how's everyone at the lab?"

"They're all fine… Listen, I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Well, I'm worried about Yami."

"Well, so am I. Always have been. Or is this something more specific?"

"He… He's been acting rather strange for the past several weeks. He seems exhausted all the time and he's got dark circles under his eyes, like he hasn't been sleeping. He doesn't seem to be able to focus on our, uh, subject at all, either. I've never seen him slack like this before."

"What are you guys working on, anyway? I heard you had something top secret goin' on over there."

"Jou, the meaning of "top secret" is that I can't tell you what it is."

"Oh, come on…"

"Jou, please. Now, have you noticed anything about Yami? Has he told you anything?"

"Well, he sure hasn't told me anything recently. I haven't seen him much to begin with for the past month. He's always staying late over at the lab."

"How late?"

"Oh, midnight or later. I have about fifteen rain checks from him to go out for a drink."

"What about Hiroto? Has he seen much of him lately?"

"Not any more than I have."

"Hmm… Something must be going on… I hope he's okay…"

"Anzu, we're talking about Yami. He can handle himself."

"Yeah… Well, thanks, Jou."

"No problem. I'll see if I can catch Yami at home one of these days; maybe I can find out if something's up."

"Well, let me know if you do. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

* * *

Yami gulped down the last of his lukewarm coffee as he strode down the hall, determined to stay awake. It had been nearly a month now and sneaking into the lab every night to see the merman was beginning to take a toll on him. During the day he was coming closer and closer to falling asleep over his notes. Anzu was constantly giving him worried glances and Yami always had to reassure her that he was fine.

Yami's plea to reduce the testing had worked… to an extent. The testing was still at a rate that, in Yami's opinion, was much too hard on the merman. But, that was as far as the other scientists (and more importantly, Dr. Kaiba) had allowed them to decrease the testing. At least it was a small victory.

And, although Yami was exhausted during the day, he was always reminded of why it was worth it when he would go to see the merman at night. Now that the merman was eating he was doing much better; some of the color had returned to his skin and he had gained enough weight that he was no longer horrendously thin.

The merman had also proved to be a very fast learner. In the month that Yami had been teaching sign language to the sea creature they were already able to communicate well, although rather crudely. Not only did Yami's visits seem to help the merman's health, but they also seemed to give him hope. Someone had finally recognized that he was sentient and needed not only intellectual stimulation but contact with another being. Yami smiled to himself as he entered the lab. The merman was not the only one benefiting from their nightly meetings.

The merman was already at the edge of the tank waiting for Yami. He smiled and signed a greeting as Yami walked into the lab. Yami signed a "hello" back as he strode up to the tank.

"How are you, Yami?" Yugi signed out. Yami had to smile; the merman's gestures were still a bit hesitant, but he was becoming quite fluent.

"I'm fine," he signed back. "And how are…" Yami stopped for a moment and frowned. It had been bugging him for the past week or so, but he wasn't quite sure how to solve it…

"Something is wrong?" the merman signed.

Yami ran a hand through his hair. "I wish that I had something to call you," Yami signed. The merman looked confused.

"A name," Yami elaborated. The merman thought for a moment, frowning. He wasn't quite sure how he could communicate his name to Yami, either; Yami had explained to him that his voice was at a frequency (whatever that was) that humans couldn't hear. Thus, they could only communicate by the symbols that Yami taught him. Eventually he shrugged, not able to come up with any ideas.

Yami pursed his lips. He was getting rather tired of just calling him "the merman" in his head, but he didn't just want to give him a new name when he already had his own. But, the merman had no way of knowing the phonetics behind the signs that he had learned. Even if Yami were to teach him the alphabet, it wouldn't do him much good. If only he had a way to hear the merman's name and then convert it into symbols…

He looked up as the merman rapped his knuckles on the glass. "What about the… the…" the merman frowned, not knowing the symbol for the idea that he was trying to express. "There was a thing that could hear me," the merman eventually signed. Yami just stared at him, not knowing what he was talking about.

"A small, black thing," the merman continued. "The lady human put it in the water."

Yami smacked his forehead. Of course, the microphone! Why hadn't he thought of it before? With that he would be able to hear the merman's name as he said it! Yami dug through the various stacks of equipment until he found the microphone and its respective apparatus. He quickly carried it up the steps to the top of the tank and began fumbling with the tangled wires. The merman looked up through the water curiously.

Eventually, Yami managed to set up the device and lowered the waterproof microphone into the tank. He quickly adjusted the little speaker, then signed to the merman, "Say your name; I should be able to hear you."

Yami frowned slightly at the soft sound that emerged from the speaker; he couldn't quite distinguish it. He motioned for the merman to say it again. It sounded like… Yugi? The merman repeated his name, and indeed that was it. The merman's name was Yugi.

Smiling, Yami motioned for the merman to come closer, then signed out his name for him. Yugi repeated the symbols a few times and grinned up at Yami. Yami set himself down on the metal platform as he watched Yugi practice his name.

/Yugi…/ he thought to himself. /I wonder if it means anything in his language/

Glancing at the microphone, Yami remembered when it had first been put to use. That song, or whatever it was, it had been so sad…

"Yugi?" Yami signed. Yugi grinned at the use of his name.

"I was wondering," Yami went on. "You know that we used the… black thing before, to hear you." Yugi nodded.

"You were saying something before. It sounded like a song and it was very sad. What was it?"

Yugi looked down and reflexively wrapped his arms around himself. Yami wondered if he had overstepped some sort of boundary. But, Yugi slowly began to sign out an answer.

"It is a song," he signed. "My mother sang it a long time ago." Yami's eyes widened; Yugi hadn't yet talked about his home or any of his relatives. "She told me it brings hope. I did not have any. I thought that the song would bring some. But, it had a very sad sound because I was sad. I could not put any joy into the words."

Yugi smiled. "The day that I sang it, you came. Now I would be able to sing it with joy."

Yami felt himself blush slightly. The merman's words should have sounded cheesy to him, but there was such sincerity in his eyes… There was something pure, something untouched about Yugi that fascinated him. There was a sudden urge to haul Yugi out of the tank and cart him back to the sea as quickly as possible so that his sincere nature couldn't be crushed under the cynicism that Yami's world was infused with.

Suddenly, Yami heard something; the front door to the facility had just opened and closed. Yami and Yugi froze, staring at the door. Then, Yami grabbed the sound equipment and flew down the stairs. He put the equipment away and, grabbing his stuff, looked back over at Yugi.

"If someone comes in here, pretend to be asleep," he signed. Yugi nodded. Yami had explained to Yugi that he was teaching him sign language without permission of the other scientists, and if any of them found out they would put a stop to it. Yami turned off the lights and darted out the door, only to hear voices coming from down the hallway. He quickly sidestepped into a nearby computer lab, hiding just behind the door.

The voices came closer, and as they became more distinct Yami noted that they sounded familiar.

"… Well, I think you're just being paranoid," the first voice said. Yami frowned; it was a voice he didn't recognize.

"Do I look like I care what you think?" someone replied nastily. Yami knew that voice. "Yami calls the merman a "he", not an "it"," Bakura went on. "He obviously sympathizes with that freak, so there's no telling what he might try."

That got Yami's attention. Bakura was on to Yami's little night visits.

"So, you think he's going to be here tonight?" Yami stepped farther back into the room as Bakura and the unknown stranger stopped outside the door.

"He's been staying late, hasn't he?"

Yami's eyes narrowed as he saw a figure standing next to Bakura. He had jagged blond hair and was wearing an array of expensive gold jewelry and equally expensive-looking clothes. His eyes were half-lidded in relaxed arrogance.

"If he's in the lab with the merman, then I'm right," Bakura growled.

"Okay, well, if he isn't then I'm right and you're being paranoid."

"Fine."

Yami thought quickly. He fished some random files out of his bag, then strode out into the hallway.

"Hi, guys! You're out here a bit late, aren't you?"

The unknown man and Bakura had been about to go into the lab, and they jumped and spun around as they heard Yami's voice. Bakura stared at Yami disbelievingly; the other man reacted a bit quicker.

"My cousin here was just showing me around some of the lab. Apparently I can't look around in the daytime; got some top secret experiments going on."

Bakura just nodded.

"Oh, do forgive me, I'm Mariku. I'm here on a short visit from Tokyo."

"I'm Yami. Nice to meet you." He strained to keep his voice nonchalant as his heart pounded.

"And what are you doing here so late?" Bakura asked, the aggressive growl not entirely gone from his voice.

"Oh, just typing up and organizing some of my recent observations," Yami said smoothly. Mariku nodded; Bakura watched Yami for a few moments, then seemed satisfied with his answer. "But, I think it's time for me to go get some sleep," Yami went on. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Yami turned and walked down the hallway, not looking back until he was outside of the lab. This disturbed him greatly; Bakura had sounded quite positive that Yami would be in the lab that night, and he had been right. Yami had thought that he had been pretty inconspicuous with his meetings with the merman, but now he wasn't so sure.

What worried Yami even more, however, was that Bakura had been talking openly about the merman with some other person that Yami had never seen before. Yami had a suspicion that there was more going on than was immediately apparent, and he also had a feeling that it wasn't good news for Yugi. Yami suddenly had a renewed resolve to help the merman; they could communicate quite well, but that wasn't enough. Yugi still needed better treatment in the lab, and ultimately he needed to be sent home.

But did they plan to let him go home? The thought suddenly struck Yami; what if they meant to keep Yugi at the lab indefinitely? None of them had been given a long-term test schedule. This led Yami to another question: If it came down to him having to choose between following the rules of the lab or doing what he believed was best for the merman, would he have the courage to choose the right one?

A/N: Ah, the moral dilemma. And what the heck Bakura up to? Is Mariku really his cousin? Who the heck uses the word "phonetic" in a sentence besides me? Answers to these, and more (pssh, yeah right) questions in the next installment! Please review.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Yes, another update! Took me a while to get finished, but school is taking up most of my time anymore. Thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter; you guys are my motivation to keep working on this thing. Enjoy!

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 6

Yugi lay against the glass of the tank, staring out into the darkness of the lab. Perhaps being trapped in a strange human prison wouldn't be so bad if there was just something for him to do. He couldn't sleep and there was hardly any room in the tank for him to swim around, so most of his time was spent sitting idly about, wishing that he was free.

At least, that was how it had once been. Now, he had something to look forward to. Yugi smiled to himself; he had known when he had first seen Yami that he was a kind human. His eyes, though their brightness had dimmed at some point, were clear and betrayed no evil within him.

The first couple of times that Yugi had tried to connect with Yami he had been disappointed. Yami had only stared at him without response. Falling deeper into despair and believing that he would die in this prison, Yugi had refused to eat, thinking that it wouldn't do him any good to try to stay alive. He wasn't even sure if anyone at his home would notice that he was gone. If he just let himself die, then all the pain and fear of being trapped in this strange place would disappear and he would fall into oblivion.

Then, a miracle had occurred, and Yami had suddenly come to his rescue.

Yugi had been a little apprehensive when Yami had come into the lab that night; he wasn't sure what to expect. All that the humans had done thus far was capture him, frighten him and hurt him. But, he willingly gave Yami his trust as soon as he realized that Yami was trying to communicate with him. Finally, one of the humans had truly recognized his presence and was willing to listen. And, as Yami had explained, he was teaching Yugi without the permission of the other humans and their night meetings had to be kept a secret. Yugi had been even more grateful to Yami when he found this out; surely he was risking some sort of horrible punishment by doing this. Yugi thought of Yami as his savior, a brave yet gentle soul that would protect him from the tortures that the other humans inflicted on him. Yugi still wasn't sure why the other humans did such horrible things to him, but for now Yami was his hope and that reassured him.

Frowning, Yugi wondered how the light in Yami's eyes had grown so dim; he had such kindness in him that it seemed his light should be burning strongly and brightly. It was not often that the brightness would fade and the kindness would remain. But, it would not be polite to ask about such a thing; perhaps he would never know.

For now, though, Yugi was content to practice his most recently-learned symbols and wait until morning when the scientists came. Then, he hoped that the day would go by quickly so that he could see Yami that night.

* * *

Bakura lazily scanned the experiment schedule. It was early morning and no one else was in yet. He was still irritated that he had not caught Yami in the act, but he wasn't convinced by that little conversation from the night before. If Yami was sneaking around after-hours, it could hurt his mission there. He glanced at the sleeping merman, a smirk growing on his face. He looked back down at the schedule; one of the listed priorities was to determine the merman's ability to survive out of water, including an estimate of how long it could potentially survive without oxygen. Typically this was done with a long, complicated formula involving oxygen retention. He glanced up again, this time noting the newly-installed robotics technology. Why get just an estimate when he could get a much more realistic number?

Yugi looked up as he detected a shift in the water. Something was moving. He looked about the tank but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Peering through the glass, Yugi could see one of the scientists, one with white hair, doing something with one of the machines in the lab. He was looking at Yugi.

There was another shift. Yugi turned just in time to see an opening appear in the back of the tank. Yugi shrunk back against the glass as something began to emerge from the hole. They were strange, long, metal things, like stiff octopus arms. Yugi jumped as the strange arms suddenly moved towards him and he darted away to another corner of the tank. But, the arms followed him. Yugi swam upward until he reached the top of the tank, but to his dismay the arms kept coming after him.

This went on for quite some time; Yugi dodged the arms again and again, but there was very little room in the tank and he was running out of options. Finally, as Yugi began to tire, one of the arms caught hold of his tail. Yugi panicked. He wriggled in the metal thing's grasp and pulled at it with his hands, but the arm held him in its crushing grasp and would not let go. As Yugi was occupied with his trapped tail, he failed to notice the other metal arm until it wrapped itself around his torso.

Yugi continued to struggle. His arms began to bruise as they were jarred against the metal arms again and again, his tailfin flipping back and forth madly. But, struggling was useless, and Yugi's energy was slowly sapped away. His frantic attempts at escape became weaker and weaker as he realized that he was at the mercy of the strange metal arms.

The merman was just barely able to detect another change in the water. He frowned; this change was different than before. He slowly looked around, staring out at the human for a few moments, then looked up. He was still for a moment, then his struggling began again with renewed strength. The water level was dropping.

His mind was lost in panic. He strained madly against his bonds, oblivious to the pain of the metal scraping against his skin and scales. The water line came closer and closer; he felt the top of his head out of the water and panicked all over again. It lowered to his forehead, then his eyes, down his nose and mouth, and then past his neck. After that, all he knew was that he couldn't breathe. His struggling subsided as he gasped soundlessly.

Where was Yami? Why wasn't he stopping them? Didn't Yami want to help him anymore? Looking around the lab with hazy vision, Yugi could discern only the one scientist and Yami was nowhere to be seen. Yugi was alone.

His mind grew cloudy, his body falling limp in the restraints. He had been right, Yugi thought bitterly. He would die in this prison. Darkness had nearly claimed him when Yugi heard a shout.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing?!" Yami nearly screamed, his half-empty coffee cup falling to the floor. He had come into the lab to see Bakura watching calmly as Yugi gasped and flailed above water, caught in the robotic restraints.

Without bothering to think, Yami dashed over to the control panel, knocked Bakura out of the way, and frantically typed away at the keyboard. The robotic arms loosened their grip and let go; Yugi fell a little ways into the water with a mild splash, then lay there limply.

Yami was for a moment afraid that Yugi had been out of the water too long, but thankfully he saw the merman jerk awake just before Bakura grabbed at his shirt collar.

"What are you trying to do!?" the much taller scientist growled angrily.

"I could ask you the same thing," Yami retorted. "I thought the point of us keeping him here was to study him, not kill him."

"We were supposed to see how long he can be out of water," Bakura said indignantly. "Check the test schedule yourself."

"I don't care about the test schedule! You could have killed him!"

"But I didn't," Bakura said flatly.

"No, but you caused him unnecessary pain and stress, and that could do the job just as well."

"What's going on?" Otogi had walked in upon a very distressed Yami and a contemptuous Bakura (well, the second one wasn't that unusual) and was rather confused.

"Look, it's in the test schedule…" Bakura said, waving a piece of paper in Yami's face, but Yami grabbed it and crumpled it in his fist.

"I don't care about the goddamned test schedule," he growled. "If you had left him out of the water for just a few seconds too long, he would have died."

"I said, what's going on?" Otogi said louder as he approached.

"We needed to find out how long the merman could stay conscious out of water. I just took a short cut, and as you can see, he's now fine." Otogi looked over at the tank and could see the merman awake, curled up in his usual corner.

"Fine?!" Yami exploded. "You nearly suffocated him! He's not only in pain, but he's probably terrified!"

"Why are you so concerned about how it feels?" Otogi asked.

"He's not an "it", damn it!"

The two scientists stared at Yami, who by that time was flushed and tense. Yami, realizing that what he had just said was going to cause trouble, turned and walked over to his corner of the lab. He started working on some random computer file, but he could still feel the eyes of the others burning into the back of his skull. He was embarrassed that he had lost his cool in front of Bakura, but that wasn't what really worried him. Bakura was already suspicious, and this incident would only confirm what he already thought. With his back to him, Yami missed the slight smirk on Bakura's face.

Glancing over at the tank, Yami saw that Yugi had curled up in the corner, his face buried in his arms. He remained like that for the rest of the day, refusing to look at anyone, even Yami.

A/N: Ooh, suspense! Why is Bakura such a pain in the ass? I don't know. Because he is. And where the heck was Anzu? She fell through a plot hole. Mainly because the scene wouldn't have worked out if she had been present. Therefore, I make them temporarily nonexistent. Because I can do that. Sentence fragments. Midnight, must sleep. Lizzie, over and out.

P.S. Review, please!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I have returned! Now that the semester is over I can get back to working on this, maybe even to the point of finishing it. I'm planning on it being pretty long, though. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 7

Yami sighed as he peeked into the lab. Yugi was curled up into a ball on the bottom of the tank, his face buried in his folded arms. He had thought that he had gained Yugi's trust over the past month, but what had happened today could have put all of his work to waste. Yugi had every reason to never trust another human again.

But, he had to at least try. Yami walked into the lab and over to the tank. It took a few moments for Yugi to notice his presence. He looked up and, to Yami's surprise, swam over to Yami immediately. He looked very upset, but didn't seem at all afraid of Yami. Yami had expected Yugi to be just as afraid of him as he was of the other scientists. Instead, Yugi seemed relieved to see him. Yami was glad that Yugi still seemed to trust him, but he couldn't help noticing the bruises all over Yugi's arms and the rents in his beautiful green scales.

"Are you all right?" Yami signed to him. Yugi had to take a moment to calm down, then managed to sign back, "It hurts," and he rubbed his bruised arms tenderly. Yami thought for a moment. He went to one of the cabinets and dug around while Yugi watched.

"There have to be some painkillers in here somewhere…" Yami muttered to himself. They had, thankfully, found that Yugi responded to mild drugs in the same way that humans did, so things such as painkillers would have the desired effect. He finally found some in the very back of the cabinet. He pointed upwards to signal for Yugi to swim to the top of the tank, then climbed the metal staircase up to the top.

Yugi poked his head out from between the bars at the top of the tank and looked at the bottle in Yami's hand curiously as Yami opened it.

"This will help the pain," Yami signed. He held out one of the white pills and slipped it into Yugi's mouth. Yugi swallowed it, then grimaced.

"Is something wrong?" Yami asked.

"Taste is bad," Yugi signed back.

Yami chuckled and Yugi smiled up at him. Then, a sad look crossed Yugi's face. Yami frowned.

"What's wrong, Yugi?" he signed. Yugi bit his lip, seeming unsure, then slowly signed, "I have a question." Yami nodded for him to go on.

"Why do the other humans hurt me? Are they angry at me? What did I do?"

It took all the will power that Yami possessed to keep himself from turning away from Yugi's tortured eyes. Could he possibly be so innocent as to think that his captivity was his own fault?

"No, Yugi, they are not angry at you. You did not do anything wrong."

"Then why do they keep me here and do those things to me?"

Yami found it very difficult to answer. "Because they want to know things about you. The things that they do are experiments to find out things about you."

"But why could they not do what you did and then ask me? I would tell them what they want to know if they would ask."

Yami's heart wrenched. What was he supposed to tell Yugi? That the other scientists didn't think he was smart enough to understand, that they didn't even think he was much more intelligent than any other fish?

"I don't know," Yami finally signed. Yugi's face fell.

"Will they ever let me go home?" he asked. Yugi knew that it wasn't Yami's decision, or else Yami would have let him go a long time ago.

"It is Dr. Kaiba's decision," Yami signed. "But… I will try as hard as I can to get you out of here soon."

Yugi smiled up at him, his eyes hopeful. Yami smiled back, and was about to head back down the staircase when he felt something cold and wet touch his hand. He jumped slightly, and Yugi pulled his hand away quickly. Yami blinked a few times. Why had Yugi tried to touch his hand? Yugi looked up at him sheepishly and was about to swim away, but Yami put out his hand again.

"It is okay," he signed, though in the back of his mind he knew that he would have his head bitten off if any of the other scientists, or worse, Dr. Kaiba, saw him having this kind of contact with the merman.

Yugi looked hesitant, but curiosity overwhelmed him and he reached out to touch Yami's hand again. Yami realized that Yugi was just curious; he wanted to examine Yami just as the scientists wanted to examine Yugi.

Yugi ran his fingers over the back of Yami's hand, leaving wet trails along his skin. Yami could feel outlines of the scales on Yugi's skin, and this close up he could actually see them. Usually they were almost invisible, but with Yugi's hand right in front of his face he could see the outline of each clear scale.

Yugi frowned, then put his other hand out next to Yami's. He examined the two of them closely. "The hands are different," Yugi signed slowly.

"Yes," Yami signed back. He laid down on his stomach so that he and Yugi were face to face. "There are many ways that we are different."

Yugi looked carefully at Yami's face. He absently ran his fingers over his own ear, which was much smaller and closer to his head than Yami's. He reached out tentatively, then pulled his hand back.

"It is okay," Yami signed, scooting a bit closer. Yugi smiled shyly, then reached out to touch Yami's face. He ran his fingers down Yami's cheekbone and along his chin, then traced his lips.

"We are not a lot different," Yugi signed when he finished inspecting Yami. "Only a little."

"That is true," Yami signed back. Yami then reached out to touch Yugi's hand. The translucent scales on Yugi's skin were rather stiff, but thinner and more pliable than Yami had expected. Their only function must be to protect their upper bodies from the salty seawater.

Yugi put the palm of his hand against Yami's and their fingers interlocked. They stayed like that for a few moments, then Yami saw that Yugi's eyelids were beginning to droop. It had been a hard day for him.

"You need to rest," Yami signed. Yugi just nodded and sank back into the water. Yami stood up and went back down the stairs.

"Good night, Yugi," he signed as he left.

"Good night, Yami," Yugi signed back as he curled up on the bottom of the tank and fell asleep.

* * *

Yami yawned as he opened the door to his apartment; he was quite ready to get some sleep. He smiled to himself; now that he needed to stay up for most of the night with Yugi, he had suddenly been rid of his insomnia. He wondered absently how it had disappeared so quickly.

He didn't have much time to wonder, though, as he jumped and whirled around when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa! Relax! It's just me, Yami," Jou said, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

Yami sighed, letting his heart return to a normal rate. "Don't do that," he said in exasperation. "You're going to send me into cardiac arrest."

Jou blinked. "I'm gonna send you where now?"

Yami sighed again. "Never mind." He kicked off his shoes and dumped his bag on a nearby chair, then collapsed onto the sofa. He would have been perfectly content to lie there until the sun came up, but unfortunately his stomach chose that moment to proclaim loudly that it required sustenance. Yami groaned.

"Hey, I figured you'd be hungry, so I picked up some dinner," Jou said. Yami sat up.

"Jou, you're a lifesaver," he said.

Jou shrugged. "I try."

Five minutes later the burgers and fries Jou had gotten had disappeared and the two sat in silence except for the occasional slurp of a soda.

"So, Yami," Jou said, "Just what are you working on over at the lab that's sucking up so much of your time?"

"Oh, you know," Yami said, waving his hand around vaguely. "Paperwork and such."

Jou rolled his eyes. "You say that every time I ask, Yami. C'mon, I want the real story. No lies, no editing."

Yami evaded Jou's stare. "There is no real story. There's just a lot of stuff coming through that needs to be documented, and that takes time…"

"Oh, bullshit. There're a bunch of reporters nearly pissing themselves over this "top secret" subject you guys have in that lab of yours, and ever since that came up you've been like a ghost! You get up early for work, you come home after midnight and you're obviously exhausted. Hiroto's tried to call you three times to get over to his new place and meet his girlfriend, and you didn't even return his call! He finally called me asking if you'd moved. Hell, I don't even see you at all anymore, and I practically live here."

Yami stared down at the threadbare carpet, not really wanting to respond. He knew what Jou had said was true, but…

Jou sighed. "Look, Yami, I know you've got a work ethic and all, but this is ridiculous. I'm surprised you haven't passed out over your microscope or something."

The blond paused again, waiting for Yami to say something, but Yami stayed silent.

"Tell me what's going on," Jou said flatly. "If you're worried about all the "top secret" bullshit, you should know by now that I can keep a secret when I want to."

"I know that," Yami said, finally speaking. "I'm just afraid that you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Yami and Jou stared at each other for a few moments, then Jou began to laugh. "Not believe you? What do you have in there, a clownfish that tells jokes? A killer whale that's pink? Oh, no, I got it: a peanut butter and jellyfish!"

"Jou…" Yami growled.

"C'mon, Yami, what could you possibly have found that could be so shocking to the general public that you can't tell me? I mean, you're acting like you found a mermaid or something."

Yami sighed. "Well, you're close."

Jou blinked. "I am?"

Yami heaved himself up off the couch and went to where his bag had been tossed onto a chair. He rummaged through it until he found a thick binder, which he then plopped into Jou's lap. "Have a look," he said.

Jou opened the binder and his jaw dropped rather quickly. Inside the first folder were some of the pictures that Otogi had made Yami take on the first day they had been observing the merman.

"Some fishermen found him off the coast a few months back. Our people managed to get a hold of him before the press got there and we've been paying off people left and right to keep him a secret until we find out more about him. The test schedule is brutal; Dr. Kaiba wants us to get as much done as quickly as we can, and that's what's been sucking up so much of my time."

Jou was still staring at the pictures, mouth open and eyes wide.

"Shit, Yami…" he finally said.

"Yeah, pretty much," Yami said, leaning back on the sofa. "I almost didn't believe it myself."

"So, what have you found out about him? Is he, like, intelligent? Can you talk to him?"

Yami hesitated. He had known Jou since high school and would trust him with his life, but the truth about whether or not the merman was intelligent could get him in big trouble if the secret got out.

"Well, there hasn't been anything in the test schedule for that kind of thing," Yami said slowly. Jou glanced at him sidelong.

"But…" Jou prompted him to go on, knowing there was more.

Yami rubbed his temples. "Jou, if I tell you this, you have to promise that you won't breathe a word to anyone."

Jou chuckled. "Hey, you're already trusting me with the big merman secret, what could be worse than that?"

"Jou, seriously, if this gets out I could lose my job."

Jou stopped smiling suddenly.

"Or worse, get taken to court…"

"Damn, Yami, what did you do?"

"Well… there hadn't been anything in the test schedule about the merman's intelligence, ability to communicate, and so on, but… I'd watch him in that cage that we have him in, and after a while… He tried to communicate with me, Jou. He tried several times, but I wasn't paying enough attention to realize what it was until he'd already been subjected to all these horrible tests. Just looking into his eyes you could see how afraid he was of us, and he was trying to tell us that we were hurting him but we weren't listening…"

Yami paused and Jou said, "Okay, but what does that have to do with you losing your job?"

"The real reason that I've been out so late is because I've been staying at the lab with him after everyone else has gone home. I'm teaching him sign language, Jou."

"Sign language? Is it working?"

"Yes, we can communicate pretty well. And… it seems to make him happy that he can finally talk to someone, have someone understand…"

"You care about him, don't you?" Jou said. It was more of a statement than a question, but Yami nodded in reply.

"I've been working to get the amount of testing reduced so that he has more time to rest and isn't subjected to so much stress. I'm not sure what I'll do when he's fluent in sign language, though. I haven't really thought it out that far. I do know that he needs to get out of that lab soon, though. It's not healthy for him."

"No doubt. And I take it that if anybody in the lab found out that you're doing something outside of the precious schedule, they'd be on your ass in no time, right?"

"Exactly."

There was a moment of silence as Jou flipped through the pages of the binder and Yami continued to stare down at the threadbare carpet, wondering just how he was going to get the merman out of the lab and back in the ocean.

"Well, worry not, my friend," Jou said as he handed the binder back to Yami. "Your secret is safe with me and shall not leave this room."

"Thanks, Jou."

A/N: Aha, now Jou is in on the secret! And I figured out a way to mention Hiroto. I feel so proud of myself. Review, ye readers!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Man, nearly a month off from school and this is all I have to show for it. Maybe I can get another chapter done this week before classes start again. Enjoy!

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 8

Anzu stepped into the empty lab just as the morning light peeked over the horizon and through the windows. She had always been a morning person and was always at the lab early, ready to tackle the work day with the same optimism that she applied to every aspect of her life. She frowned, though, as she looked over at the sleeping merman while she set her purse down and turned on her computer. Yesterday had been one of the very few exceptions where she was not at the lab first, and that had been because of an early appointment. Now, she wasn't sure whether she would have wanted to be there or not.

Otogi had told her about Yami's outburst. Anzu had known Yami for several years and he rarely, if ever, let his emotions go out of control. Jou had known Yami since high school and he had only seen Yami become truly enraged two or three times. But this disturbing fact came second to what Yami had actually said.

He's not an it... That was what Otogi had told her that Yami had said. That one little sentence could have several connotations. Yami's preceding comments certainly showed his concern for the well-being of the merman, but that last sentence… That implied that Yami believed that the merman was intelligent, sentient, capable of complex rational and abstract thought as well as profound understanding of emotion. If this was true, how could they have missed something that important? It was impossible, wasn't it?

Anzu ran the tests that they had performed through her mind. Well, there really wasn't any information to disprove the merman's intelligence. In fact… Anzu frowned as she reviewed the tests again. They had never done any sort of test for intelligence or ability to reason. They had never even really tried to communicate with the merman.

The merman was still asleep as Anzu walked over to the tank and looked at him. He was curled up on the floor of the tank, motionless in the still water. Despite the fact that he was eating regularly he was still too thin by human standards, and his skin was still so pale. Anzu stared at the sleeping merman, this thing of myth and legend that had suddenly become so real and yet was still only an object to them. Just for a moment, Anzu let the detached scientist persona fall away. The merman was not an object, he was not a specimen, he was an intelligent being that thought and felt and understood. Surely the experiments were torture to him; what else would he recognize them as? They had never made any effort to explain to him what was happening. They had never made any effort to talk to him at all. Anzu nearly gasped aloud at her sudden realization. What if there was a being of at least near-human intelligence sitting in that tank?

* * *

Yami smiled as Yugi swam over to him, signing a greeting. Yami felt a surge of pride that Yugi had become so fluent so quickly. He sat down next to the tank and looked up to see Yugi waiting expectantly for whatever Yami was going to teach him that night. But, Yami didn't really have any particular lesson planned. For a long time already he had been curious about where Yugi had come from, and now that Yugi had the skills and vocabulary to describe it Yami wanted to know. Also, ever since his talk with Jou, Yami had been concerned about finding a way to get Yugi home, and knowing a few things about said home couldn't hurt.

"Yugi," Yami began, "I don't have anything to teach you tonight." Yugi's smile faded and his brow creased in confusion. "Instead I thought we could just talk; you could practice." Yugi nodded in response.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Well… I've been curious about where you come from. Where do you live? What is your family like? Things like that."

Yugi looked hesitant for a moment, but he nodded and began to sign.

"Well, I live on the outside of a big city in the Great Ocean, or the Pacific, as you call it. There are many other cities like mine that are ruled by different councils. The council in my city rules the entire Great Ocean; it's the largest empire in the world right now. Or, sea empire, anyway."

Yugi averted his eyes. "My parents died when I was very young. I only have a few memories of them, like that song that you asked about. I lived with my grandfather until…." Yugi thought for a moment, trying to convert merpeople years into human years, "… about a year and a half ago."

"What happened?"

Yugi hugged himself reflexively. "He died," he signed eventually. "There's no one in my family that's left. It's just me."

"I'm sorry," was all that Yami knew to sign. He was a bit surprised when Yugi smiled bitterly.

"That's actually why I'm here," Yugi signed. Yami frowned in confusion. "There is a place where the bodies of dead merpeople are taken to rest. My parents and my grandfather rest there. I went there to visit them… and I became very sad. I couldn't bear it. There were others there and I swam upwards so they wouldn't see me in so much grief. I wasn't paying attention and that was when I got caught in the net."

Yugi curled up against the side of the tank as grief overcame him. "I was alone…" he signed weakly, then hid his face in his hands and curled up tighter. Yami, not really knowing what to do, moved closer to the tank. He rested himself against the glass right across from Yugi; it was the closest that the two of them could be to each other. Yugi, somehow sensing his presence, looked up into Yami's face, then pressed himself closer to the tank as if inviting Yami's closeness.

The two of them stayed like that for a while, enjoying the feeling of the other being beside them. Eventually Yugi raised his head and smiled at Yami in thanks. Yami smiled back. Then, he remembered another question that had been nagging at him.

"Yugi," he signed, "When we found you, you were wearing strings of shells and coral and a stone pendant in the shape of a triangle. Does it mean anything?"

Yugi nodded. "Each of the points of the triangle represent the three components of a person: body, mind and soul. The eye in the center is the life force that is present in all things, that sees everything that happens." Yugi looked over at the preservation tank where all of the items were being held. "My mother gave it to me," he signed.

"What about the other things?" Yami asked.

"The two pearl and seashell bracelets I got from my father and grandfather. They're proof that they both went up to the beach to get them, risking being seen by humans. The other bracelets I made myself."

"And the other string that you were wearing around your waist?"

"That one is like a status symbol. It shows one's rank. The one I wear is for the warrior class. I've never had to fight, but my grandfather fought in a war against another kingdom about…" Yugi thought for a moment, once again converting his time measurement into human years. "It must have been about two hundred human years ago."

Yami nearly fell over when Yugi said that. "Two hundred years?" Yami said out loud. Yugi just blinked at his reaction. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"How long do merpeople live?" Yami signed.

"About three hundred human years, I think," Yugi replied. Yami just stared. Three hundred years? How was it possible?

"Are you all right?" Yugi asked, becoming concerned at Yami's strange behavior.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just… shocked." Yugi frowned in confusion, so Yami tried to explain.

"Humans don't live for nearly that long. We live for maybe seventy or eighty years, on average. Some live to over a hundred, but it's not common." It was Yugi's turn to be surprised.

"But then… how old are you?"

"I'm twenty-five," Yami answered. Yugi's eyes widened.

"Only twenty-five human years?" Yami nodded. Yugi thought for a moment.

"I must be about… seventy human years old," he finally signed. Yami just stared at Yugi. For humans seventy was quite old but for merpeople it was obviously still young. By human standards, Yugi couldn't have been any older than twenty-one or twenty-two. This was most certainly one of the things that physical testing had never told them.

"Do you have any other questions?" Yugi asked, bringing Yami out of his thoughts.

"I don't think so," Yami replied.

"Then I want to know about you," Yugi signed with a smile. Yami shifted position.

"Well, there's not much to say about me. I got dumped into an orphanage before I turned two and I stayed there until I was eighteen. I did well enough in school that they gave me money to keep going. Marine biology was sort of a random choice. I'm still not really sure why I picked it. Anyways, when I finished school I got a job here, and I've been here ever since."

"Do you know what happened to your parents?"

Yami shook his head. "No. I was found abandoned outside a police station and they never found any trace of my parents."

"I'm sorry…" Yami looked up and saw Yugi's sad face.

"It's okay," Yami signed. "I guess I would like to find out what happened to them someday, but I've been doing fine without them."

Yugi just nodded. "And, if I hadn't been put in the orphanage I probably wouldn't have become a marine biologist and then I never would've met you," Yami added. Yugi blushed slightly and Yami grinned.

Then, Yami found himself yawning, and looking over at Yugi he saw that the merman was also becoming sleepy. Checking his watch Yami saw that it was nearly one in the morning, and he had to get up the next day to come into the lab.

"I think it's bedtime," Yami said as he stood up and stretched. Yugi nodded in agreement as he curled up on the floor of the tank.

"Good night, Yugi," Yami signed as he picked up his stuff and headed for the door. Yugi signed back a reply then closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

Yami had an extra bounce in his step as he walked out of the lab. Despite getting almost no sleep between working and coming to see Yugi at night, Yami felt quite content. Getting to know Yugi had had an interesting effect on him. He felt more relaxed and at ease, especially after having poured out his life story to Yugi. Jou was the only other one that knew the details of Yami's past, but telling Yugi about it had somehow made everything seem okay. Everything was just fine, no matter what. Yami wasn't sure how to explain it, but that's the way it was.

Since it was so late at night, Yami was the only one in the lab. Or, so he thought. As he walked past the data storage room, Yami detected the sound of voices. He cautiously crept towards the slightly open door, then had an idea. He carefully pulled one of the tape recorders that he had used to get the pronunciation of Yugi's name and pressed the record button. Then, he stood beside the door and listened.

"What exactly is he waiting for?" Yami recognized the voice as Mariku's.

"That damn mind-reader device of his," another voice growled. Definitely Bakura. "It arrives tomorrow. As soon as we get it, we leave."

"And what's that supposed to do?" Mariku asked.

"Don't you ever pay attention? It's going to tap into the merman's brainwaves so that he can look at his thoughts and memories." Yami frowned; he didn't like the sound of that.

"And then he'll know where to look for the city that he came from." Yami's heart jumped. "And then Kaiba will try to get to that source before we do." Yami listened intently; source? Source of what? There was a pause in the conversation, and Yami's sense of dread grew. What would happen if they found out where Yugi's people lived? All of them would be caged up and displayed like brutish animals, their culture destroyed and the sincerity and understanding that Yami so valued in Yugi would be completely gone.

"But what are we going to do about Kaiba?" That caught Yami's attention.

"What about him?"

"He's the only other one that knows about the source. After we get the device from him, are we just supposed to kill him?"

"It's fine with me; we'll just have to be quiet about it."

Yami's heart leapt into his throat. There was obviously a lot more going on than he had previously thought.

"Do we need this merman, as well? The other two could suffice for the information we want."

_Other_ mermen?

"Yes, we need it. It's the only one that lives in the region where the source is; the others won't have a clue."

Yami leaned closer with the tape recorder, but a notebook slipped out of his bag and hit the floor with an audible thump. The voices in the room stopped. Yami didn't wait; he turned and ran. He made for the main door, but when he reached it he found that it was locked. One of them must have hit the security lockdown. Yami heard footsteps and dashed down another hallway. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the tape recorder and shoved it into the inside pocket of his jacket, knowing that he might lose his bag trying to get away. However, his breath was knocked out of him as someone tackled him from behind. Yami kicked and fought, trying to get away from his assailant, but the slightly larger man pinned him down. Yami looked up and saw Mariku, and then Bakura as he approached. Bakura held a cloth over his face while Mariku held him down and Yami smelled an unpleasant chemical. His struggling became weak and after a few moments he drifted out of consciousness.

A/N: Aha, suspense! Intrigue! Anzu finally getting to do something other than be an ignorant secondary character! This is, what, the second time I've made Yami an orphan? Well, his parents died when he was young anyways, right? It's been a while since I've actually watched the series itself. And yes, Yugi is 70. In the original Ariel story merpeople live for 300 years. The book, not the Disney movie. Why am I still here? Actually, why are you still here? Review, dang it!

UPDATE 3/9/09: Yes, this is where things really start to change, for those of you that read the original story. *evil cackle* Let's see where it leads…


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I think this proves that my updates all come in clusters. I updated a million times over the summer, did nothing all semester and now I've got three chapters in a row during break. Does this mean I won't update again until May? Depends on how many classes I can safely blow off. But, enough chatter, on to chapter nine!

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 9

Yami awoke with a start. His head was pounding and his chest hurt. It took a few moments for his vision to clear up enough that he could see his surroundings. He was in one of the storage rooms near the back of the building by the loading docks. Suddenly remembering what had happened, Yami tried to stand, but found that he was tied to a support column with extension wire. Yami fought back panic, but didn't have much time to think as a nearby door slammed open.

A cart was wheeled in with Bakura pushing it. On the cart was an oversized fish tank, and just barely crammed into it was Yugi. Yami jerked against his bonds. "Yugi!" he cried without thinking. Bakura glanced at Yami with a raised eyebrow.

"So you can communicate with it, hm? I didn't think you'd actually get that far."

Bakura pulled a handgun out of his back pocket and loaded it. Yami's eyes widened. He glanced at Yugi, whose eyes were darting between him and Bakura anxiously.

"But I don't think we'll be needing you anymore." Yami struggled momentarily but instantly realized it was useless. Bakura smirked. "And I think I'd like to savor this." Yami gulped as Bakura aimed and he tried to prepare himself…

"Bakura!" Yami jumped slightly and Bakura rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"Get out here and help me short out this goddamn system. If we don't get it done before the truck gets here…"

"Don't explain it to me! Just do it yourself!"

"You're the fucking scientist! Get your ass out here!"

Bakura growled and pointed the handgun at Yami again. "I'll be back," he hissed and left the room, slamming the door behind him. It was several moments before Yami let out the breath that he didn't know he had been holding. Yugi was staring at him with wide eyes, terror written across his features, but Yami couldn't tell him anything unless his hands were free. He twisted and pulled at the wires, wincing as he felt a sharp edge cut into his arm. He nearly sobbed in frustration; he couldn't get free, Yugi was depending on him, and soon Bakura would come back to kill him and do God-knows-what to Yugi…

Yami startled as he heard a series of loud thumps. Yugi was pounding on the secured lid of the tank with his hands and tail, and ever so slowly the lid was moving. In just a few moments the lid popped off and Yugi pushed it onto the floor as carefully as he could. Then, to Yami's horror and amazement, Yugi pulled himself out of the tank.

"Yugi, don't… please…" Yami pleaded, knowing that it was useless, that Yugi couldn't understand him. But, Yugi wriggled across the floor to Yami and set to work on untangling him from the wires. Every second that passed made Yami more anxious; if Yugi couldn't untie him before he ran out of oxygen…

Yami didn't get the chance to follow that thought as the wires suddenly loosened and he fell forward slightly. He turned and saw Yugi barely holding himself up against the wall, his eyelids beginning to droop. Yami scooped the merman up as quickly as he could and stumbled over to the tank, nearly dropping Yugi into the water. Relief flooded Yugi's face as he lay motionless in the water for a few minutes.

"We're leaving," Yami signed to him. "Now." Yugi just nodded. Yami went to the door and cautiously opened it a few inches; there was no one in sight. He carefully rolled the cart out of the storage room and down the hallway towards the loading dock. Yami jumped as he thought he heard footsteps, but realized that it was his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. It seemed an eternity before they reached the loading dock. Yami found that the door wasn't locked; the security lockdown must have been shut off. He slid the large metal door upwards as quietly as he could, revealing the darkness of pre-dawn, then quickly realized a dilemma. There was no way to get the cart and the heavy tank down to the ground, as the loading dock was about six feet off the ground.

Well… there was no way to avoid it.

"Yugi," Yami signed quickly. "I have to take you out of the tank. I'm going to carry you; remember that I told you about cars?" Yugi just nodded. "We're going to go in one of those to a lake as fast as we can, and you can hide there. Okay?" Yugi nodded again, looking pale but determined.

Yami took off his jacket, then reached into the tank and Yugi put his arms around Yami's neck. Yami took a deep breath, then hauled Yugi out of the tank, wrapped the jacket around Yugi's torso, tucked his arm under Yugi's fin and slid off the loading dock. He hit the ground and ran, Yugi clutching him as tightly as he could. The employee parking lot was on the other side of the building and Yami was exhausted from stress and lack of sleep, but in retrospect he realized he had never run that fast in his life. They reached Yami's car and it was only then that he realized, with great gratitude, that his keys were still in his pocket. He put Yugi in the back seat as quickly as he could without being too rough, then jumped in and hit the gas.

The lake was ten minutes away if you were going the speed limit and had to stop at an occasional traffic light, but Yami did neither. The gas was floored and he nearly hit a passing truck as he turned left on a red light. Yugi was leaning against the back of the seat behind him, holding on to Yami's shoulders; as time passed his grip became tighter. Yami nearly cheered aloud as he saw the lake approaching, but it was at that moment that Yugi's grip suddenly weakened and Yami didn't feel his hands on his shoulders anymore.

Yami didn't slow down as he reached the visitor parking lot, but drove over the sidewalk and onto the grass. There was a walkway that led down to the beach; the grassy area was a knoll slightly above the lake itself. The car skidded to a halt just a few feet from the edge of the knoll and Yami stumbled out of the car. He grabbed the nearly-unconscious Yugi, took a few strides, and then leapt without hesitation. Yami felt a rush of air around him, then the cold smack of his body hitting the water and everything was darkness.

* * *

Yami's eyes fluttered open and for a moment he wasn't sure where he was. His hazy vision could barely distinguish a pair of concerned violet eyes looking down at him.

"Mm… Yugi?"

The face above him smiled in relief and Yami saw Yugi's hands signing "Are you all right?" Yami nodded and tried to pull himself up. His head hurt, his back hurt, his chest hurt… everything hurt. Looking around he saw that they were on a secluded, wooded edge of the lake. Yugi was half-floating in the shallow water next to Yami, who was lying partially submerged on the wet sand.

"What happened?" Yami signed.

"You took me and jumped into the lake," Yugi replied. "Then you went unconscious and I pulled you over here."

Yami just nodded. He looked to the far end of the lake, where the knoll that he had jumped from was just visible in the pre-dawn light.

"Did anyone follow us?" he asked.

"I have seen no one."

Nodding, Yami closed his eyes. He needed to think. Bakura and Mariku had probably already found out that they were gone and knew that he had driven away. They also knew that Yugi couldn't get far out of water. Yami needed to go back to his car and get it away from the lake; he couldn't give them any reason to suspect that Yugi was hiding there. Then he needed to find Anzu, and Otogi, as well. He couldn't do this alone.

Yami looked down as he felt Yugi's hand close around his. Yugi smiled and signed, "Thank you." Yami smiled back.

"Of course."

He staggered to his feet with the help of a nearby tree and brushed himself off, which didn't do much considering he was completely soaked. Yugi looked up at him anxiously.

"I have to go get help," Yami explained. "I can't get you home on my own. I'll come back here as soon as I can, and there will probably be others with me. I'll come back to this exact spot. Until I do, stay under water and don't let anyone see you, okay?"

Yugi nodded determinedly, then sank under the water. Yami waited until he disappeared into the murkiness of the lake, then picked his way along the shore. It seemed like an eternity before he got back to the parking lot, but he fought off his exhaustion and tried to remain cautious. He hid behind a tree and watched for several moments before running to his car, whose door was still happened to be open. As he drove Yami thought of where he would go first. Going back to his apartment probably wasn't safe. There was Anzu… well, the only thing that Yami could prove was that he had stolen the merman, and that wasn't exactly…

Yami almost swerved as he remembered the tape recorder. Twisting around in his seat, he saw that the jacket he had thrown around Yugi was sitting there, slightly damp. Yami sighed in relief; at least he had some proof. But still, Yami needed somewhere that he could recuperate for a moment, where he wouldn't have to answer too many questions.

Ten minutes later Yami knocked on the door to Jou's apartment. He jumped at the noises of the sparse traffic on the nearby highway; it was amazing how quickly he had become hyper-paranoid. He bit back a yelp as the door opened suddenly.

"Wha' the hell d'ya want?" Jou slurred, standing in the doorway in sweatpants and a T-shirt, obviously not quite awake. It took him a moment to realize who was at the door.

"Yami? What are you…" he suddenly noticed Yami's haggard appearance. "What the hell happened?!"

"Can I please come in, Jou?" Yami urged. He was terrified that someone would see him and his wet clothes were starting to make him shiver. Jou just nodded and stood aside.

"Lemme get you some dry clothes," he said and went to rummage around in his closet. After Yami had dried off and changed, he realized that he was ravenous and hurriedly ate whatever Jou put in front of him without bothering to note exactly what it was.

Jou waited patiently until Yami had finished. "Okay… what exactly happened?"

Yami shook his head. "It's a long story. The short version is that there's dirty business going on, Bakura tried to kill me and steal Yugi but we escaped and now he's hiding in that lake a few streets down from the lab. And… I need help."

Jou nodded. "Sounds like a royal shit storm. What do I need to do?"

"Call Anzu… and Otogi. Tell them to meet me at the lake as soon as they can." Yami took the tape recorder out of his pocket. "We'll figure something out."

A/N: Does Jou come off as odd? I was worried about that during the last bit of this chapter. I don't write him very often, and when I do he's usually a secondary character. Anyways, review please!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Technically I'd done a version of this chapter before, but with all the plot changes it's almost completely redone. Reading over my previous version I realized that all the action seemed much too well-planned by the characters, which is not how life actually goes. Strange things happen and the plan has to change, and I thought it would be more realistic to reflect that by making it seem as though the characters are improvising all their actions. And with that observation, please enjoy.

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 10

Yami stood staring unflinchingly at the thin morning light hesitantly streaming through the trees. He was in a secluded corner of a park near the lake, not daring to be out in the open too close to Yugi's hiding spot. He was carefully constructing what he was going to say to Anzu and Otogi. They had both been surprised, and in Otogi's case rather irritated, that Jou had called them so early, but he had managed to convince them that it was urgent. Yami felt in his pocket for the tape recorder he had used only hours earlier; it was the only proof of his claim. It was the only way to convince them to aide him in a difficult and possibly dangerous endeavor.

Jou stood beside him, hands jammed in his pockets, looking down the neatly-kept park trail that led towards the lake. Hiroto stood beside him, looking equally anxious; Jou had called him, as well, figuring they needed all the help they could get. He had taken the news relatively well, considering its nature and how early it was. Yami had taken the time to explain more thoroughly what had transpired and had let Jou and Hiroto listen to the tape. They didn't know any better than Yami what the "source" Bakura had spoken of could be; frankly, Yami was still wrapping his mind around the fact that other merpeople had already been found.

"Hey, Yami!" Anzu called out, waving to him as she and Otogi walked over. Yami winced visibly; he wished that she would have approached less conspicuously. How could anyone be that cheerful this early in the morning? He closed his hand around the tape recorder in his pocket.

"This better be important to get me up this early," Otogi grumbled. Anzu slapped him on the arm.

"Hush up! Yami said this was important." Otogi rolled his eyes.

"It's about our subject," Yami said, deciding to go right to the point. Anzu looked at Yami, then at Jou and Hiroto, then back at Yami.

"Uh… Yami…"

"It's all right. They know."

"They what? You told them?!"

"Would you keep your voice down?" Yami growled. Anzu just stared at him. Yami himself was surprised at his harsh tone, evidence of how taut his nerves were.

"Yami, what…?"

"Just listen to this." Yami pulled out the tape recorder and pressed play. The entire conversation from that night played out to Anzu and Otogi's unbelieving ears. The conversation finished and Yami stopped the tape.

"Damn…" was Otogi's only comment.

"That was Bakura…" Anzu said softly. "Who was he talking with?"

"Somebody named Mariku. He's been visiting the lab with Bakura late at night," Yami answered. Anzu frowned in disbelief and Yami shook his head. "This is the second time I've overheard the two of them talking to each other."

"Yami…" Otogi interjected. "What was all that commotion at the end of the tape?"

Yami was silent for a moment. "They found me listening to them last night," he said quietly. "I ran but they caught me. As soon as they got what they wanted they were going to kill me."

Anzu's hands flew to her mouth. "Yami!"

Yami shook his head. "We have to stop them. If they get that device they'll ruin an entire civilization."

Anzu, though pale, nodded assent. "And we have to get the merman out, too."

"And just how are we going to do that?" Otogi interjected. "There's tight security on the whole place, guards at all the loading docks and cameras everywhere! Hell, we can't even communicate with it."

"His name," Yami said forcefully, "is Yugi."

There was another stunned silence. "… How do you know that?" Anzu said in a disbelieving whisper.

"I've been sneaking in every night and teaching him sign language, Anzu. He's extremely intelligent and we can communicate very well."

Anzu took a moment to let this new information sink in then shook her head. "But Yami, the odds of us being able to…"

"We don't have to. I took him with me when I escaped last night. He's hiding in the small lake down the street."

Anzu just stared. There was silence for several moments until Jou finally said, "Okay, so… what now?"

"We have to get Yugi back to the sea to get him out of Bakura's reach," Yami said quietly. "Then we need to find out what all this "source" business is about and get those other merpeople away from Bakura."

Otogi snorted. "Is that all?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Jou snapped.

"Everyone relax," Anzu said, her mind going into planning mode. "Let's focus on the first part. Obviously we need a water-tight tank big enough to hold the mer… I mean, Yugi, and a vehicle big enough to carry it. Once Yugi's safe, we can ask him what he knows about this source, and we'll figure out the rest from there."

At the end of the conversation Otogi and Hiroto drove off to procure Hiroto's truck and an old fish tank that Otogi had taken home for repairs but never returned. Yami, Jou and Anzu walked down to the wooded spot where Yami had woken up just an hour earlier. Yami walked to the edge of the water and waited. Slowly he saw a pale form rising out of the water's depths, and then Yugi's head broke the surface. Yugi smiled brightly at Yami, then his eyes moved to the familiar scientist and the stranger next to him and his smile faded.

"It's okay," Yami signed. "They're going to help." Yugi nodded rather hesitantly, then half-swam, half-crawled into the shallows. Jou's jaw dropped open slightly as Yugi's tail became visible. Yami knelt down.

"Others are going to come here with another tank," Yami explained, "and we'll take you to the sea." Yugi's eyes lit up and he had to suppress the urge to splash his tail around in excitement. Yami pointed to the other edge of the lake. "Go to where we jumped in earlier and wait for us." Yugi nodded happily.

"Does… he understand?" Anzu asked tentatively.

"Yes, he understands," Yami replied. "We need to go to the other side of the lake and wait for Hiroto and Otogi."

Yami stood and Anzu turned to go. Jou reluctantly followed her, his gaze still on the merman. Yami hesitated a moment.

"I'll… catch up with you," he eventually said. Anzu smiled in understanding and she and Jou picked their way through the woods back to the path.

Yami sat on a nearby rock. Yugi stayed floating in the shallow water, and for several moments they simply looked at each other. Yami wasn't sure what to say, and as they stared into each other's eyes it seemed as no other communication was needed between the two of them. In the end it was Yugi that signed first.

"You have done so much for me," he began. "I do not know how to thank you."

Yami shook his head. "You do not have to," he replied.

"After this…" Yugi hesitated. "… will I see you again?"

"I do not know," Yami finally signed. Yugi was about to reply, but suddenly a look of shock came over his face. Yami whirled around only to see the barrel of a gun, and then recognized the person holding it as Seto Kaiba. He was nearly a foot taller than Yami, his eyes icy blue and his demeanor much the same. He cocked his head slightly, looking from the merman to Yami.

"I see that I heard right; you do know how to speak to it," he said quietly, sending chills down Yami's spine. "This improves my situation considerably. I thought I was going to have to rely on the police to catch you." He gestured for Yami to sit back down. Yugi, unsure of what was happening and reluctant to leave Yami, stayed where he was.

"My information collection project has been stolen, which I believe you are aware of, considering the content of the laboratory's security tapes." It took Yami a moment to realize that he was talking about the supposed mind-reader that Bakura had mentioned. "But… no matter."

Kaiba nodded towards Yugi. "Ask him where the source is, and make clear to him that I'll kill you both if he doesn't tell."

Yami tried to protest. "How can I ask him about it if I don't even know what it is?"

"Ask him. Now." The volume of Kaiba's voice hadn't increased and yet the tone was harder and more menacing. Yami slowly turned to look at Yugi.

"That thing he's holding has the power to kill us instantly," he signed, his heart throbbing with pain at the sight of Yugi's terrified face. "He wants to know where something called the "source" is."

Yugi just stared back in fear and confusion. Eventually he signed, "I don't know what that is."

"He says he doesn't know," Yami told Kaiba, trying to keep his voice steady. Kaiba's expression did not change, but with his free hand he reached into his pocket.

"Perhaps this will jog his memory." Kaiba held up Yugi's triangular stone pendant. "Tell him that I want to know where the center of this triangle is."

A sarcastic voice in Yami's head said any idiot could show him that, but he relayed the message to Yugi. A spark of realization dawned in Yugi's eyes, and he glanced at Kaiba.

"Tell him… that I need the pendant. It has a way of showing how to get to the source."

Kaiba actually smiled slightly as Yami repeated what Yugi had signed. "Hmph… simple enough. I should have known what these were used for."

He tossed the pendant to Yugi, who caught it and clutched it close to his chest for a moment. Yami saw Yugi's lips moving, then saw Kaiba point his gun.

"I have no use for you anymore," he said, but before he could pull the trigger both of them were blinded by a brilliant light. Yugi's body was enveloped in white incandescence, the water around him rippling with the force of the energy. Kaiba forgot about Yami and stepped towards Yugi's now-invisible form.

"Show me!" he shouted at the light. "Show me the source!"

His answer was the abrupt exit of air from his lungs as Yami caught him in a flying tackle. The gun was knocked from his hands as they fell to the ground. Searching for the weapon in the exaggerated shadows from the unusual light, Kaiba socked Yami in the jaw with his elbow and rolled over. He didn't get far, though, as Yami grabbed a nearby stone and promptly hit Kaiba over the head. His tall body fell limp and Yami crawled away from him, wiping the blood away from his mouth. As the light began to fade, Yami spotted the gun and grabbed it, but his attention was soon diverted as an unfamiliar voice screamed in pain.

Yami dashed back to where Yugi was lying in the water, but suddenly he stopped and dropped to his knees in the sand. Yugi was still in the same spot, but the flesh at his waist no longer turned to scales. The flesh continued down his back to his human legs and he took ragged breaths of the cool morning air. After several moments of shock Yugi wearily raised his head to look at Yami and he found himself suddenly impelled to action. He dragged Yugi's naked body out of the water, pulled off his jacket and wrapped Yugi up as best he could. As soon as Yugi seemed to have gotten his breath, Yami signed to him asking what had happened.

"I asked the source… the spirit… to help us escape," Yugi slowly signed. "And this," he gestured to his legs, "is what it gave me."

A/N: Ooh, magic! Yes, I've decided to incorporate some fantasy rather than just questionable science. What exactly is the source? What will Yami do now that Yugi is human? Why did Hiroto finally get a somewhat meaningful part? I… don't remember. Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Oh hai, welcome to the rest of mah storee. :) Now that we've learned that Kaiba's insane, and probably brain-damaged from that rock, it's time for a road trip! Why did I decide to work on this (yet again) now? Because I said so. So there. Please enjoy.

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 11

Anzu watched the road near the park carefully, silently praying that no one would catch wind of their odd little operation. Hiroto's truck and Otogi's pilfered fish tank had arrived without incident, but the tension was palpable. All it would take to send their fragile plan awry was a curious bystander, but Anzu imagined that it could be much, much worse. She glanced anxiously down at the lake; Yami was taking longer than she had thought, and the merman had still not shown up on their side of the lake.

"Where is he?" Otogi muttered.

A few moments passed without an answer. Finally, Anzu was about to announce that she was going to go look for him when Yami emerged from the trees at a dead run. He skidded to a halt in the parking lot, missing a collision with Otogi by inches. In his arms was the merman… or what had been the merman. Otogi stared for several moments.

"Oh, come on!"

"Yami, what happened?" Anzu finally recovered enough to ask. Yami shook his head.

"Long story. We need to change plans. Kaiba knows that I stole Yugi; I don't think he knows that you're involved. He's at odds with Bakura and Mariku, but we need to watch out for all of them. I can't return Yugi to the sea if he's not a merman anymore, and I don't know how to change him back, but I have to get Yugi away from here NOW."

"Where are you going to go?" Jou asked.

Yami looked back at him helplessly.

"I don't know," he finally said.

"I do," Otogi said. Yami turned to stare at him as Otogi pulled a key ring out of his pocket and tugged one of the keys off.

"There's this old beach house my cousin used to own; it's kind of crappy, and it's in the middle of freakin' nowhere with nothing else near it, so it might be ideal for this. He dumped it on me when he moved to America, the bastard. I haven't done a damn thing with it."

Otogi scribbled something onto a scrap of paper and handed it and the key to Yami. "He always said you could set off a bomb there and nobody would notice, it's so secluded."

Yami didn't know what to say. "Th-thanks, Otogi." Otogi just shrugged.

Yami turned to see Anzu's hand holding out a wad of money; Yami shook his head. "No, Anzu, I can't…"

Anzu rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. If the police are going to be after you, I wouldn't suggest using your credit card." She grabbed Yami's hand and pressed the money into his palm.

"Now go; the sooner you get out of the city, the better." Yami nodded. He glanced at Jou, who just nodded in return. Yugi, still lying in Yami's arms, listened to the exchange uncomprehendingly.

Yami half-ran to his car, pushed Yugi into the back seat, stuffed the key, money and directions into his pocket and hit the gas. Within minutes he was on the highway heading out of the city. He was so focused on driving as fast as he could without attracting the attention of the local law enforcement that he jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Yugi had pulled himself into the space between the two front seats and was looking at Yami with a confused expression.

"Where are we going?" he signed.

"Somewhere safe, I hope," Yami replied. "You should stay hidden," he continued. "We don't want anyone to see you." Yugi nodded and crawled into the back where he lay down between the seats.

Several hours later they were on an empty seaside road, well outside of the city but not even halfway to their destination. Yugi had pulled himself forward to lean on the side of Yami's seat, watching trees and road signs flit past. A muffled rumbling sound startled both of them. Yami looked down at Yugi, who blushed.

"Hungry?" Yami signed, and Yugi nodded. Yami debated for a moment, then began looking for an exit sign. They were going to need food at some point, the car was getting low on gas, and besides that Yugi was still wearing only Yami's jacket. Minutes later Yami stopped outside a gas station. There was no one else there, but Yami had fished around in his glove compartment for sunglasses and a hat, and was still looking around nervously as he filled up the car. Yugi was hidden as well as he could be on the floor of the car between the front seats, but Yami's heart was pounding as he walked into the convenience store.

Thank God gas stations have everything these days, Yami thought to himself as he rather haphazardly grabbed a T-shirt and some shorts that looked like they might fit Yugi. A sizeable bag of packaged foods and 6,000 yen later, they were back on the highway. Now that he no longer looked like a flood victim, Yugi was sitting in the car seat sampling some rice crackers. Yami had to lift him into the seat; Yugi's legs hardly worked at all. But, as Yami glanced over at him, he saw that Yugi was quite entertained by the novelty of legs, moving one and then the other. Yugi noticed Yami looking at him and blushed.

"What do you think? Are legs all hype or not?" Yami signed.

Yugi smiled shyly. "I think I'll know better once I can use them," he replied thoughtfully. Yami stared at the road; they hadn't discussed any possible way of changing Yugi back, mainly because sign language was not entirely compatible with driving, but also because the main goal at the moment was to get somewhere safe. Just get there… get there and then we can rest.

* * *

Yami watched another exit sign go by, gleaming in the headlights and then fading into the night's darkness; he had only stopped one other time for more gas, and the digital clock read 12:43. He was exhausted; it felt like he hadn't slept in years. He had staved off his hunger with some of the snacks, but he couldn't seem to get his stomach to calm down. The anxiety was killing him; at any moment he expected to see police lights flashing in the rear-view mirror. A sign detailing the upcoming towns appeared; it was still miles until they reached their destination.

Yami glanced at the passenger seat; Yugi had fallen asleep some time ago, curled into his customary fetal position with Yami's jacket around his shoulders. In that moment Yami came upon the realization of just how fragile Yugi was as a human. He couldn't stand up and his only human speech was sign language; Yami could feel a tremendous weight on his shoulders. Now, he alone was Yugi's protector. Yugi would have to completely rely on him until the time came that Yugi could be returned to his home.

Yugi sighed in his sleep as these thoughts passed through Yami's mind, and another glance saw Yugi smile slightly as he curled up tighter. Yugi did not appear to be that worried, despite all that had happened that day. Even after all he had done for Yugi, the thought never crossed Yami's mind that Yugi owed him anything. In fact, if anything, he owed Yugi, for something that he couldn't entirely place but that he knew existed all the same. It was with that thought that Yami refocused on the road and drove on into the night.

Finally, there it was! Yami eagerly got off the highway, drove through a nondescript little town and out onto a rather unkempt road. He squinted at Otogi's directions; supposedly the road went on for a few miles and stopped just beyond the house. He started as one of the tires bounced in and out of a pothole; Yugi sat up in surprise, awakened by the sudden movement. He looked over at Yami in confusion.

"Almost there," Yami signed.

It was close to three in the morning when they finally saw a small house emerge in the headlights. Yami got out of the car first, flashlight in hand, and looked in through the windows. The house was vacant. Yami scooped Yugi up out of the seat, the smaller boy holding the remaining snacks, and walked into the house. He fumbled for a light switch, then wearily looked around for something resembling a bed. Locating the bedroom in the back, Yami laid Yugi down, locked the front door and flopped down on the bed. Yugi's eyes fluttered open and he looked sleepily over at Yami. The two of them simply looked at each other for a few moments, not really needing words, then Yugi snuggled up against Yami affectionately. Yami blushed slightly, but the sensation of Yugi curled up next to him was not unpleasant and so he pulled the light covers over Yugi and himself. Very soon, the two were asleep.

A/N: I told you: road trip! Do I remember where this story is going? I sure hope so. Let's find out, shall we? Review or else.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Well that was… fast. Honestly I had most of this written already, but some of it I had to finagle because it was geared towards the original plot of the story. And the last bit is completely new. Please enjoy.

Beneath the Surface

Chapter 12

Yami awoke feeling wonderfully warm and comfortable. He was vaguely aware that the warmth was coming from the soft form pressed against him. Opening his eyes, Yami blushed slightly as he saw that he and Yugi were thoroughly entangled in each other under the blankets. It wasn't a bad feeling, though…

Although he wanted to stay there with Yugi, Yami's growling stomach forced him out of bed and in search of food. The bag of packaged foods from the gas station was sitting on the floor just outside the bedroom, where Yami had dropped it. Yami emptied it out onto the table; a loaf of anpan, three packages of Pretz, three packages of Pocky, several more of dried meat snacks, some rice crackers and all the crispy seaweed chips the store had had (Yami figured Yugi would like them). Yami grimaced; he had no idea how long they would have to hide, and this wasn't going to last them more than a few days.

Yami looked around the small house; there was only one bedroom, the living room had a sofa, a threadbare carpet and some rather nasty-looking wallpaper, and Yami was quite sure that the stove and refrigerator in the kitchen were older than he was. The paint was peeling everywhere and the lights occasionally flickered ominously. Otogi had been right; the place was rather crappy.

Yami jumped when he heard a loud thump and he quickly went to the bedroom. Yugi was on the floor just a few feet away from the bed and was trying to sit up. Yami kneeled down next to him.

"Good morning," Yugi signed with a grin. Yami couldn't help but smile despite his exasperation.

"Good morning," he replied. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, but I don't think my legs work yet." Yami laughed.

"You just need practice."

Yami picked Yugi up and carried him into the kitchen, setting him down in a chair. Yugi gazed curiously at the unpacked food that was scattered across the table. He picked up one of the colorful packages of Pretz, which happened to be pizza flavored, and tried one of the crunchy sticks. Apparently not opposed to the flavor, Yugi finished the stick and moved on to the seaweed chips. Yami had been right; Yugi's eyes lit up as he recognized the taste and he quickly devoured the contents of the package. Yami smiled as he opened a package of the meat snacks. Yugi was just so darn cute.

As soon as he finished eating, Yami stood to gather the rest of the packages and store them in one of the very dated cabinets. When he turned around, he was alarmed to see that Yugi was trying to stand up again. He quickly stepped over to Yugi's side of the table, but stopped himself as he saw that Yugi was doing all right. He had his hands on the table, supporting him as he stood. Yugi seemed to have the strength, he just needed to develop his balance, Yami thought to himself. Then, very slowly, Yugi drew his hands away from the table and stood up straight. Yami stayed close, ready to catch Yugi in case he fell.

Yugi let a smile creep onto his face as he continued to stay upright. Yami nearly relaxed, then his heart skipped as Yugi took a rather sudden, staggering step. He quickly lost his balance, but Yami caught him and held him up. Yugi carefully righted himself, giving Yami a rather embarrassed smile.

Yami held Yugi's hands as he cautiously took one tentative step after another around the kitchen. He vaguely reminded Yami of the many toddlers that had come through the orphanage that had learned how to walk with the caretakers holding their hands and urging them on.

Becoming more confident, Yugi took his steps a bit faster, now that the motion of putting one foot in front of the other was more familiar. Yami, walking backwards, led Yugi out of the kitchen and into the living room. As they passed in front of the couch, Yugi slowed and withdrew his hands from Yami's grip. He managed to take three steps before he faltered and fell against Yami's chest, flushed with embarrassment.

"I can't seem to keep my balance…" he signed unhappily. Yami stood holding Yugi for a moment, then abruptly threw himself and Yugi down onto the couch, eliciting an involuntary squeal from Yugi.

"Looks like I can't, either," Yami signed, and Yugi smiled. Yugi shifted position on the couch, then his eyes suddenly became very wide and he quickly sat up. Yami, alarmed, turned to follow Yugi's gaze. Out of the living room window, the sandy beach and frothy waves could be seen. Yami turned back to Yugi to see his eyes bright with excitement. He knew Yugi's question before he actually signed it.

"Can we go down to the sea?"

Yami pretended to think about it, then smiled and signed, "Of course."

It was a beautifully bright morning, the sun reflecting off the swirling waves and the damp sand as Yami approached with Yugi in his arms, his legs still too unsteady to carry himself over the uneven terrain. They had barely reached the sand when Yugi began squirming about, his excitement apparently uncontainable. Eventually Yugi couldn't stand it and he made a rather comical flying leap from Yami's arms, stumbled a few steps forward in the sand then sank to his knees in the soft waves.

Yami kicked off his own shoes and went to stand in the shallow water next to Yugi. One look at his face told Yami that Yugi probably wasn't aware that he was there; he was only aware of the ocean, its sound and feel and smell. This was the home that he had been torn away from, the home to which, hopefully, he would soon be returned.

It was the right thing, of course, for Yugi to go home. And yet… it made him sad.

Then, there was a rather sudden splash, and Yami abruptly found himself sitting in the water while the waves swept innocently around his waist. Yugi, having gotten Yami the rest of the way into the water, scrambled off towards deeper water before Yami could quite react.

Yami quickly tried to stand, struggling with the wet sand that his hands and feet were sucked into at his every movement. He was rather embarrassed that Yugi had caught him off balance, and was also slightly worried that Yugi had gone off into deeper water without really knowing how to operate his legs.

He really shouldn't have worried, though.

Yugi dove beneath the surface, carefully remembering to hold his breath. Movement was so much easier underwater, so much more natural. He didn't have to worry about how to keep himself upright or how to put one leg in front of the other; he could just let his body bend to the movement of the waves and travel along with them.

After a while Yugi noticed an odd, uncomfortable tightness in his chest; it took him another moment to realize that he must be in need of air. Yugi effortlessly swam upward and broke the surface. He was rather surprised that the salty water stung his eyes and was rather annoyed that he was so out of breath from that short swim. It was amazing that humans could get around in the water at all; they obviously weren't meant to.

Yugi could see Yami still standing near the beach, his clothes sopping wet. Wondering why Yami hadn't joined him in the deeper water, Yugi swam back until the shallow water forced him into a sort of crawl, as he wasn't going to attempt to walk. He grinned sheepishly up at Yami, who didn't appear angry, but also wasn't quite pleased.

Yami, meanwhile, sighed at Yugi's grin; he couldn't be mad at him. Yami opened his mouth to say something as he took a step forward, but what he was about to say would never be known as his foot, still quite stuck in the wet sand, refused to budge and sent him flailing into the seawater for the second time in the past ten minutes. He sat up calmly and dared to take a sidelong glance at Yugi. The boy had his hand over his mouth, obviously trying not to laugh. Yami sighed again and signed, "Go ahead."

A muffled giggle quickly turned into a full on laugh. Yami's embarrassment was forgotten as he realized that this was the first time he had heard Yugi laugh, and he idly wondered how he had ever gotten by before without ever having heard such a sound. The heart-quickening, melting feeling from earlier that morning returned, and Yami didn't bother to push it away.

Neither of them noticed a sudden surge of surf until it was nearly on top of them. Yami groaned inwardly; he was never going to get dry at this rate. As the water slid back down the sand, Yami looked over at Yugi to see a mess of seaweed stuck in the boy's hair. The sight triggered something in him and he began to laugh. Yugi looked at him in confusion. Without thinking, Yami said aloud, "I think you have something in your hair…"

Yugi tilted his head uncomprehendingly, and it took Yami a moment to realize that he had spoken aloud rather than signing. He repeated with his hands and Yugi fished the seaweed out of his hair, but the quietly curious look stayed on his face. Now that he could clearly hear human speech, it intrigued him. Once they had pulled themselves out of the water and were lying on the sand away from the waves, Yugi signed, "Can you show me how to talk like you do?"

Yami blinked. "I suppose so," he signed back. "We can start with my name again."

Yami slowly sounded out his own name for Yugi several times. "Now you try," he signed. Yugi slowly tried to make each sound.

"Y… aa… mmm…. eee…."

Yami smiled. "Good!" he signed. "Try again."

"Ya…mee…" Yugi said again. "Yami."

Yami nodded. "That's right!" he signed. Yugi smiled proudly, then stuck out one of his legs and pointed to it. "What about this?" he signed. Yami spent the rest of the morning teaching Yugi how to say many of the words that Yugi already knew in sign language. However, Yugi had a great deal of difficulty pronouncing the consonants "t" and "p". They always came out as a "d" or a "b" sound. Eventually Yami managed to figure out from Yugi that these sounds, though regularly used in human speech, were nonexistent in Yugi's native language.

After a while Yugi's stomach grumbled; he looked down at it crossly. "You're hungry," Yami said aloud. Yugi looked up curiously.

"Hun…ry?" Yami just chuckled and picked Yugi up. It was time to go see if the showers in that house were working or not.

* * *

He woke with a start, the remnants of a dream of home still lingering in his consciousness, which only made his spirits sink deeper as he was reminded of where he really was. There was only darkness outside, which increased the oppressive feeling of the walls that surrounded him. He looked down; the other was still asleep, momentarily safe in the sanctuary of his dreams.

A strange grinding sound filled the space. At first it had scared him, but now he hardly noticed it. Some greenish pellets floated down through the water to the floor where he and the other lay. Their meager meal was hard to eat, never managed to fill them up and tasted terrible.

White locks of hair rippled the water as he turned; the other was waking up. Soft lavender eyes stared up into his green ones, and after a moment they saddened as the other also realized that he was imprisoned rather than in the home of his dreams. The other stretched his gold-green tail as much as he could, which was not much in the tiny space; neither of them could stretch out completely and any movement beyond simply turning around was impossible. He found the urge to exercise his own white tail but quickly dismissed it; the urge would not be met.

The other surveyed the pellets with obvious distaste; Malik liked the strange food about as much as Ryou did. But, day after day after day in the prison had taught them both that they weren't going to get anything else.

"Have you seen them yet?" Malik asked. Ryou shook his head, attempting to suppress his gag reflex as he swallowed. He knew exactly who Malik was referring to: their captors, their tormentors, had not been present for several days. Not that Ryou was complaining about it; if they were going to be imprisoned, he would prefer that they were alone and bored out of their minds rather than terrorized and tortured by those cruel humans.

The only thing that had happened recently was that a few strange men had put a large… something in the room outside their tank. Neither of them had been able to tell what it was. Another way for their captors to torment them? Ryou wouldn't be surprised. He was jarred out of his thoughts as Malik spoke again.

"I believe I was winning?" he said with a grin. Ryou smiled; this would be much more intolerable if he was by himself and didn't have someone else to play word games with. For just a little while they could pretend that all their other troubles didn't exist.

A/N: When writing fanfiction for a story originally based in Japan, I'm rather uncomfortable writing about food; I don't want to put in a bunch of American brand names, but how do I know what they eat in Japan? Believe it or not, I did research for a fanfic. For those of you not wanting to google it: anpan is a type of Japanese bread with a bean paste filling, Pretz are kind of like Pocky except savory and pretzel-like, and apparently dried meat snacks are also rather popular. A friend of mine got some seaweed chips from Japan; they were teriyaki flavored and quite yummy. I assume most of you know what Pocky is; a lot of places in the US sell it anymore. Another note: I'm using "Malik" and "Mariku" to distinguish between hikari and yami, in case anyone was confused. Click the review button, not the back button. Yes, you.


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